2024 • Developmental Observer • 11 A B S T R A C T — N I D C A P T R A I N E R S M E E T I N G 2 0 2 3 Hasanpour M1, Zarezadeh M2, Rahimi S3, Kazemnejad A4 1 Ph.D. and Professor of Nursing, NIDCAP Professional, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, 2 MSc of NICN, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, 3 PhD of Educational Psychology, Department of Psychiatric Nursing School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, 4 Professor of Biostatistics, School of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. Aims A preterm infant's birth and admission to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) cause parents to experience the loss of their 'ideal' child and reactions of grief, which are known as disenfran- chised grief. The incidence of grief reactions in parents makes them susceptible to mental disorders. This reaction to grief and loss is considered an emotional crisis and can persist even after discharge from NICU to home. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a peer support program on the disenfran- chised grief severity of mothers with preterm infants. Methods This study was a quasi-experimental quantitative study, which was conducted by convenient sampling on 108 (45 control and 45 intervention) Iranian mothers with preterm infants admitted to the NICU. Sampling was done first in the control group and then in the intervention group sequentially. The control group did not receive any training. However, the intervention was carried out in the intervention group. The intervention includ- ed accompanying and empathizing with mothers with preterm infants and supporting them in accepting the conditions by peer-supportive parents in a period of two weeks. Peer-support- ive parents were selected from experienced volunteer mothers with preterm babies hospitalized in the NICU. The mental health of peer-supportive parents was checked and confirmed using the GHQ28 questionnaire, and then they underwent eight hours of training to implement the intervention. Study data were collect- ed using a researcher-made, valid, and reliable demographic and grief questionnaire. The participants in both groups completed the pre-test and post-test questionnaires immediately before and after the intervention. Data were then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as paired t-tests, Wilcoxon, and Mann-Whitney tests, using SPSS software version 16. Results The results of the Wilcoxon test revealed that in the con- trol group, there was no significant difference in the average scores of grief of mothers of preterm infants before and after the intervention. However, in the intervention group, the paired t-test showed that the difference between the mean scores of grief before and after the intervention was significant (P<0.001). In addition, the results of the Mann-Whitney test indicated that before the intervention, there was no signifi- cant difference in the mean scores of grief between the control and intervention groups. However, after the intervention, the results of the Mann-Whitney test showed that the difference between the mean scores of grief between the control and intervention groups was significant (P=0.001). Relevance to NIDCAP The Newborn Individualized Develop mental Care and Assess- ment Program (NIDCAP) is one of the current priorities of the Neonatal Health Office in the Ministry of Health in Iran and many other countries that emphasize the increasing pres- ence of parents in NICUs and support them by staff. Infant and family-centered developmental care is one of the core princi- ples of the NIDCAP Model. Mothers, as an essential compo- nent of the NIDCAP Model, need emotional and empathetic support when they are grieving for their ideal child. Conclusion The findings of the current research showed that parent-to-par- ent peer support intervention was an effective program to decrease grief severity in mothers with preterm infants. Therefore, researchers emphasize the importance of receiving support from a parent who shares similar experiences and pro- viding emotional and psychological support by maintaining re- spect and confidentiality and without prejudice to help moth- ers with premature babies admitted to the NICU. Furthermore, they recommend the implementation of the parent-to-parent peer support program as a part of infant and family-centered developmental care/NIDCAP care to decrease the preterm infants' mothers disenfranchised grief severity that this may result in increased secure mother-infant attachment. Keywords: Preterm Infant, Disenfranchised grief, Preterm Infant’s Mother, Prematurity grief, Parent-to-Parent Peer Sup- port Program, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit The Impact of the Parent-To-Parent Peer Support Program on the Disenfranchised Grief Severity of Mothers with Preterm Infants DOI 10.14434/do.v17i1.37043