NEWS Every year, over 1,000 babies in Sweden are born before week 32. Thanks to rapid advances in neonatal care, the chances of survival are good, but the babies risk complications that can affect, among other things, brain development. Parental interaction with the child is an important factor in reducing the risk of complications, and in a new project, a research group at Umeå University aims to develop an internet-based program to support parents of premature infants.
Research has shown that parents’ ability to recognize their child’s signals and support the child based on its developmental phase has a significant impact on the development of premature infants. Therefore, there is also an opportunity for interventions to strengthen the parents, which can reduce the risks associated with being born prematurely. The researchers in the INSPIRE study at Umeå University have developed a completely new, internet-based program to support parents of premature infants by strengthening beneficial behaviors in the parents.
“This is such a fantastic and fun study,” says Magnus Domellöf, professor of pediatrics at Umeå University.
“We conducted a pilot study to test feasibility and received so much positive feedback from participating families, staff, and researchers. Now we are starting an ambitious randomized clinical trial to scientifically evaluate the effect, which is a big step.”
In northern Sweden, where distances to specialized care can be long, internet-based interventions can be particularly useful. The INSPIRE program consists of 18 sessions conducted until the child is 24 months old corrected age. Parents film their interactions with the child in various contexts, such as feeding, playing, and changing diapers, and then send the film to the research group. The parents then have a video call with healthcare staff to discuss how they can adjust their behaviors or home environment to better meet the child’s needs. Malin Bergman Papworth, a speech and language therapist and doctoral student in the project, hopes that the program can be offered within regular clinical practice if it proves effective.
“After working with the pilot study for 18 months, I see that parents of premature infants can experience the intervention as a great support, especially during the initial period after discharge from hospital,” she says.
“That we now get to scientifically investigate the effect may mean that in a few years we can offer similar interventions on a large scale, and thus help more premature infants and their parents.”
The project has been granted 4.9 million SEK in funding from FORTE and runs from 2023 to 2033. In addition to nurses and doctors, the project is conducted in collaboration with physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, psychologists, and child psychologists.
