BBC News July 28, 2018
Suzanne Ruart's son Aiden spent three months in a neonatal unit as a result of being born three months early. A year after her son came home Suzanne realised she'd been suppressing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"After the first time I saw him resuscitated I developed a crippling anxiety that every time I walked into the neonatal unit there would be bad news, and this anxiety has never really left me since.
"I manage it now because I talk a lot about it, but at the time all focus was on Aiden, and so I never let myself think about the feelings I was going through."
New research by the charity Bliss has found that 62% of parents of premature babies reported they had no access to formal psychological support, such as counselling or talking therapies, while their baby was on a neonatal unit.
Of the survey of 589 parents, 16% of parents were diagnosed with PTSD after their time on the neonatal unit.
More than a third said their mental health was "significantly worse" and just 8% felt they'd received the right amount of formal psychological support.
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