"I Was Broken and Still Had to Stay Strong. I Cannot Be Weak": Understanding Parental Role Conflicts Following a Premature Birth.

Background: The challenging transition to parenthood affects both mothers and fathers; yet, the strain intensifies with a premature birth in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), underscoring the importance of acknowledging and addressing potential differences in parental roles.

Purpose: This paper aimed to investigate how parental role conflicts among mothers and fathers of preterm-born infants hospitalized in German NICUs manifest and investigated potential parental resources.

Methods: Twenty-four participants, 17 mothers, and seven fathers of very low birth-weight infants were interviewed.