• Heli Mäkelä, Anna Axelin, Nancy Feeley, and Hannakaisa Niela-Vilén.
• Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland; Satakunta Hospital District, 28500 Pori, Finland. Electronic address: heli.makela@satshp.fi.
• Midwifery. 2018 Jul 1; 62: 183-188.

ObjectiveTo identify and understand how parents develop a close bond to their infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).DesignA qualitative descriptive study; closeness and separation stories recorded in a smartphone application by the parents were analyzed using thematic analysis.Setting And ParticipantsTwenty-three parents of nineteen infants who were taken care of in a level III NICU in Finland.FindingsBonding moments and a disrupted dyadic parent-infant relationship continuously alternated as in a rollercoaster ride during the hospital stay. Transitions from closeness to separation and vice versa were the most emotional stages on the journey. Parents had a natural desire to be close and create a bond with their infants; however, they accepted the separation as part of NICU care.Key ConclusionsThe findings indicate that closeness with their infant was the power that parents stored and that led them through unavoidable separation to normal parenthood.Implications For PracticeBonding and attachment will occur naturally if parents are close to their infants and permitted privacy and time with their infants. NICU staff should create a peaceful and calming environment that enables and supports this bonding process.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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