Nursing intervention protocol to help establish affective ties between the newborn infant with Down's syndrome and his/her family

The establishment of affective ties between mother and child is a universal phenomenon in all cultures. However, this process can be disrupted by contextual factors of the mother and her newborn child. The arrival of a baby is generally a joyful event in all families. Nevertheless, this situation can change when the newborn baby is not regarded as normal. This can sometimes cause a breach in the affective ties within the family, mainly between the parents and their child. Situations of this type are intensified when parents refuse to accept their Down's syndrome baby from the very beginning. Nursing professionals prepare strategies help in the emotional bonding from the time of diagnosis, and in the period immediately after childbirth. In this respect, nurses have a crucial role as information providers for the family. More specifically, they give parents emotional support and tell them about the importance of skin to skin contact, as well as the advantages of breastfeeding. The emotional process that the family is going through must be respected, especially the parents since they are responsible for the integration of the baby into the family unit. The objective of this research was to establish a standard nursing intervention protocol that helps to establish affective ties and bonding between the Down's syndrome baby and the family.