RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Parents ’ experiences of co n a Background

The admission of an infant to a neonatal intensive care the parents and can reduce their emotional stress [8-11]. To better meet the communication needs of parents, it is Wigert et al. BMC Pediatrics (2014) 14:304 DOI 10.1186/s12887-014-0304-585, Sweden Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleunit (NICU) inevitably causes emotional stress for the parents and hence complicates the parent–infant bonding process [1-5]. The parents are vulnerable during the infant’s hospitalization [4,6,7]. Communication between parents and NICU staff is an essential part of the support offered to important to know how they experience communication with the staff at the NICU. Communication as a concept is defined as the conveying or sharing of information between people [12]. Informa-tion is provided in what is said verbally and how the mes-sage is communicated non-verbally [13]. Communication in this study means succeeding in conveying both infor-mation and emotional support to the parents while being responsive to their needs