Creating paths: living with a very-low-birth-weight infant.

OBJECTIVE To describe parents' method of adaptation to the problems of caring for a very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infant at home. DESIGN Exploratory, involving three interview sessions, 1 month, 3 months, and 5 months after hospital discharge of a VLBW infant. SETTING A newborn intensive-care unit in a tertiary-care center. PARTICIPANTS Fourteen parents of VLBW (< 1,500 g) infants after hospital discharge. RESULTS A basic social process, Creating Paths, was identified. It is the continuous process experienced by parents living with a VLBW infant the first 5 months after hospital discharge. The process consists of three stages: gathering, emerging, and affirming. CONCLUSIONS This grounded theory systematically tracks and describes the adaptation process of parents with VLBW infants during the first 5 months of living at home. The theory may be used to anticipate concerns and provide guidance and support to parents and their infants.