Aim

We aimed to evaluate whether in-home phototherapy for hyper bilirubinaemia could reduce the poorer parent–infant bonding and increased parental stress associated with neonatal hospital treatment.

Methods

In this multicentre randomised controlled trial we allocated families to either home phototherapy or standard hospital care. The primary outcome was parent–infant bonding measured on the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire directly after therapy and 4 months later. Secondary outcomes were results on four other instruments measuring parental bonding, quality of life, and mental health.

Results

We randomised 78 of 147 newborn infants to intervention and 69 to the control group. No significant differences were detected in length of stay, mean bilirubin, or weight gain. Parents in the intervention group had better scores on bonding both at discharge (p = 0.034) and at 4 months (p = 0.008; effect size r = 0.2) and lower levels of stress at 4 months (p = 0.024) than controls. No statistically significant outcomes were found for the secondary outcomes.

Conclusion

In-home phototherapy improved bonding and reduced parental stress in comparison with usual in-hospital treatment. Caregivers should consider offering home phototherapy to families of non-immunised term infants with hyperbilirubinaemia.