Background: About 8 out of every 1000 live births are affected by congenital heart diseases (CHDs). Survival rates have increased thanks to improvements in medical and surgical procedures, turning CHDs into chronic illnesses. This has an effect on the dynamics of the family and how they behave. Method: Qualitative study is to better understand parents’ experiences of caring for a child with congenital heart disease. A qualitative descriptive and contextual study design using a phenomenological approach was used for this study. In-depth interviews were conducted with five purposeful selected participants from population of parents with children born with congenital heart abnormalities. The study was conducted at a public hospital Cardiac Unit. Data analysis was done using content analysis and was grouped int five themes.
Results: The themes emerged from the analysis were emotions, disrupted parental experience, support system, need for intervention and coping strategies. Conclusion: Full understanding of the life experience of these parents will allow the implementation of the target health intervention that are planned at addressing the challenges faced by these parents.
Emotion, Parents, Experience, Children, Congenital Heart Disease