Having a premature or unwell baby and subsequent hospital admission is known to be an emotional and complex experience for parents. During hospital admission and after discharge home, parents may experience disruptions to their identity and parental role, the quality of their relationship with their baby, and with others (McLean, 2016; Shah et al., 2011). Music therapy and songwriting approaches tailored to parent-infant bonding and parent wellbeing in the NICU context have been documented (Ettenberger & Beltrán Ardila, 2018; Haslbeck, 2017), yet little is known about whether these methods might support these families after discharge.
The songwriting approach developed for this study is described as Reflective Parent-Infant Songwriting. This method provides opportunities for parent-infant musical experiences and supports parents to process their parenting experiences by crafting an original parent-infant song across six sessions. This presentation will describe the Reflective Parent-Infant Songwriting method and how to facilitate it, by honouring the individual experiences and preferences of each parent or parent couple.
This presentation reports on a study with 12 parents (including 3 couples) and their infants who had experienced a NICU or other type of hospital admission. Reflective Parent-Infant Songwriting 9 songs were written, comprising of original and song parodies. Constructivist Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2006, 2014) guided data collection and analysis of two rounds of parent interviews. Findings from a substantive grounded theory highlights that parent’s active engagement in songwriting supported them to look back on, integrate, and make sense of their experiences. By using their song personally, with their baby, and with others, parents gained insight, perspective, and fostered rich connections. This presentation looks to the future by illuminating a lesser practiced area for music therapists and provides a songwriting method to guide this work.