Accommodating the Elder Sibling of a Premature Newborn: A Perspective on Two Hospital Protocols One of Which Is Group Protocol
Type de matériel :
25
This paper focuses on the psychical life of a child passing from the status of single child to that of older brother or sister in the context of a very premature birth. In such a violent situation for the parents, who are highly preoccupied by the health of their newborn, they will temporarily “forget” the older child. This places the child in a very difficult psychical situation in which he/she feels abandoned at a time when he/she needs to be reassured of his/her new place in the family. Feeling jealousy for the newborn with which he has to share his love objects, the parents, this child can experience high guilt, which can exacerbate destructive drives toward the newborn, leading sometimes to a pattern of drive mislinking. By allowing the oldest child to enter the hospital and to meet the newborn, the hospital can play a supporting role, and exert a restorative and containing function for the child and the parents. This paper compares the protocols of two different hospitals for allowing the oldest child entry into the hospital to meet the new brother or sister. One hospital has established an individual framework, which is used at the parents’ request. The second hospital has established a group approach, where several children and their parents, on request of the hospital, meet each other in a space of shared discussion that constitutes the “bed” of the visit. The authors believe the second approach contains elements likely to accelerate the repair process.
Réseaux sociaux