To have a newborn baby needing intensive care is a traumatic experience for parents. Parents in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) can initially have difficulty in understanding, remembering and accepting information given to them. Audiotape recording of doctor-patient conversations had been used in oncology outpatients1 but not in NICU. This study evaluated a novel approach to promote optimal communication between the neonatologist and the parent(s).

Conversations with parents of babies in NICU were recorded (with permission) using a standard cassette player tie clip microphone (the standard cassette recorder, 2AA batteries cost A$90). After the conversation the parents kept the cassette recording as well as the player in order to listen to the conversation at leisure. The method was used successfully in 80 pairs of parents. At discharge of the babies, 75 pairs of parents completed a questionnaire on their experience of the recorded conversations. A survey was done of 99 neonatologists and 91 perinatal nurses to document their views on the usefulness of this method.

48% of the mothers had analgesia +/or sedation after the baby's birth. 96% of mothers listen to the cassette at an average (range) of 2.5 (1-15). 68% of the fathers listen to the cassette; friends and family in 69%. The score of the tape usefulness (0=totally useless, 5=moderately useful and 10 for extremely useful) were (mean range): parents = 9 7-10; doctors* = 5.9 2-10; nurses = 9 5-10. 85% of the parents found that the recording contained information which they have forgotten. Other comments of tape conversation:I forgot the whole conversation; useful for me to listen to when I was alone; I was worried about my ability to convey the exact conversation to my husband in my drugged state. Taped conversations of complex cases (e.g. severe asphyxia) were also listened to by other members of the NICU team. 40% of neonatologists were unhappy for their conversation with parents to be taped.

Conclusion: Parents in NICU may benefit from listening to recording of their conversations with the neonatologist. This method may be useful in other clinical situations. (* p <0.000001)