In addition, the mother may be grieving about her impending loss and may need extra time to be with her child. Strong emotions tend to contribute to a parent's need to maintain the role as the child's primary caregiver and protector. At the same time, hospital routines can be very distressing and disruptive to many families. These frequent disruptions interfere with sleep or with normal routines, intrude on private time between the child and the parent, and often usurp the parent's role with his or her child. Usually, little thought is given to how each disturbance adds to the stress of the child and the family.
Several things can help in situations such as the one described here.
Health care professionals should make a conscious effort to encourage parents to continue to be the primary caregiver for their child. Parents should be consulted about the best way to make the child comfortable for procedures and treatments. They also should be given the opportunity to have a specific role in preparing the child for procedures and in supporting the child during and after these procedures. It helps a great deal when the hospital staff is honest with parents about what the child is going to experience and gives them some choices about how they can be involved. It is especially important to avoid unintentionally splitting the child and parent.