Unusual sensory experiences in the NICU v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Unusual sensory experiences in parents of babies on a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
IRAS ID
337343
Contact name
Caitriona Collins
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 28 days
Research summary
Unusual sensory experiences – such as hallucinations (e.g., seeing, hearing, or feeling things that others cannot) and distressing mental imagery (e.g., repeatedly seeing things in your “mind’s eye” that are upsetting) – are common when people experience trauma, when someone becomes a new parent, or when someone is bereaved. Unusual sensory experiences are so common at these times that we can think of them as ‘normal’ – that is, as typical responses to trauma, to the stresses associated with being a new parent, or to the loss of a loved one. However, these experiences are rarely talked about by some groups of people (e.g., new mothers, people who have lost a loved one), often because of their worries about how others will react.
When someone has a child receiving care on a special care baby unit/neonatal intensive care unit (SCBU/NICU), they (1) will have become a parent (again, or for the first time), (2) may have seen/experienced some traumatic events, and (3) may experience intense grief. The combination of these three things should make it likely that at least some parents who have a baby/babies receiving care on a SCBU/NICU will have unusual sensory experiences. However, as far as we are aware, no studies have been run to see if this is the case.
We plan to run two interview-based studies. In Study 1, we will interview a small number of parents who had unusual sensory experiences while they had a baby/babies receiving care on a SCBU/NICU. We will use those interviews to develop a new questionnaire. Then, in Study 2, we will go back to the parents who took part in Study 1, and ask them their opinions about the questionnaire items we develop to make sure that we are asking the right sorts of questions, in the rights sorts of ways.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
24/NS/0067
Date of REC Opinion
5 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion