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Background Giving birth to a premature or sick infant is a stressful event for parents. 1-3 The parents’ presence and participation in the care of the infant is fundamental to reduce this stress and to provide optimal care for both the premature or sick infant and family. 4 A full term pregnancy is estimated to last between 37 and 40 weeks. Preterm infants born before 28 th week (5.1%) are defined as extremely preterm, while those who are born between 28 th to 31 st weeks (10.3%) are defined as very preterm. The majority of the preterm (84.1%) are born between 32 nd to 37 th week and may have significant medical problems requiring prolonged hospitalization. 5

The prevalence of preterm birth is increasing worldwide. 6, 7 More than one in ten babies are born preterm annually. This is equal to 15 million preterm infants born globally and the second largest direct cause of deaths in children below five. 6, 8 The highest …