Outside reading 2: The stresses of neonatal intensive care on parents' religious faith

When looking for a new article to read, I stumbled upon a psychological experiment that measured the effects that babies being checked into neonatal intensive care (NICU) has on parents religious beliefs. I found this study odd at first, but it was interesting to read about something that one would not normally find a connection between. The study noted that when a baby is put into neonatal care, mothers "tend to struggle with higher levels of anxiety and depression while their baby is in the NICU, possibly even meeting criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder following their child’s NICU experience" ( as cited in Holditch-Davis et al. 2003). Gina Brelsford and Kim Doheny, authors of the article, posed that oftentimes "parents may find spiritual resources helpful in handling challenging decisions about their babies’ health." They go on to elaborate that parents display both positive and negative religious coping strategies during their hard time. In the NICU, there are a lot of community support systems that aid parents through their hard times, however, Brelsford and Doheny argued that there needed to be more support systems that revolved around religious faith. Consequently, Brelsford and Doheny came to the conclusion that parents who lean on their faith for support, maintain a more positive outlook on their situation. While parents who doubt their faith, "tend to yield adverse personal results such as depression and anxiety" (McConnell et. al, 2006). 
Reading this article made me think about my own parents' struggles, since I was born prematurely. I recognize that support systems go along way and are really helpful in changing a person's view from negative to positive. In the case of religion, these types of support systems are effective in the sense that people can find communitas with others in the same faith during their times of need. 

Source: Brelsford, Gina M. and Doheny, Kim K. (2017). Religious and Spiritual Journeys: Brief Reflections from Mothers and Fathers in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Pastoral Psychology: 2016 Feb; 65 (1): 79-87. Published online 2015 Nov 19. doi: 10.1007/s11089-015-0673-1