Individualised developmental care for babies and parents in the NICU: Evidence-based best practice guideline recommendations

Nadine Griffiths; Kaye Spence; Alison Loughran-Fowlds; Bjorn Westrup

doi:10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2019.104840

Individualised developmental care for babies and parents in the NICU: Evidence-based best practice guideline recommendations

Early Hum Dev. 2019 Dec:139:104840. doi: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2019.104840. Epub 2019 Aug 21.

Authors

Nadine Griffiths¹, Kaye Spence², Alison Loughran-Fowlds³, Bjorn Westrup⁴

Affiliations

¹ Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, The Sydney Children's Hospital Network, Westmead, Australia; The Australasian NIDCAP Training Centre at Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, Westmead, Australia. Electronic address: nadine.griffiths@health.nsw.gov.au.
² Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, The Sydney Children's Hospital Network, Westmead, Australia; The Australasian NIDCAP Training Centre at Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, Westmead, Australia; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Parramatta, Australia. Electronic address: kaye.spence@health.nsw.gov.au.
³ Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, The Sydney Children's Hospital Network, Westmead, Australia; The Australasian NIDCAP Training Centre at Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care, Westmead, Australia; Department of Child and Adolescent Health, the University of Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: alison.loughranfowlds@health.nsw.gov.au.
⁴ Karolinska NIDCAP Training and Research Centre, Stockholm, Sweden; Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital-Danderyd Karolinska Institute, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: bjorn.westrup@sll.se.

PMID: 31445697
DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2019.104840

Abstract

Advances in neonatal care have improved survival of premature and critically ill infants; and while rates of some long-term neurodevelopmental problems in survivors have improved, such as cerebral palsy, there are others such as learning and behavioural difficulties that have not. The goal of improving long term neurodevelopmental morbidity has led to an increased focus on improving developmental care not only in neonatal long term follow- up clinics but within the NICU itself to capture the period of earliest brain neuroplasticity. The application of a systematic approach to improve practice is considered the most effective strategy for implementing neuroprotective developmentally supportive care. The content of this paper incorporates evidence-based systematic reviews to guide clinicians in the application of developmentally supportive interventions.

Keywords: Developmental care; Neonate; Neuroprotective care; Neurosupportive developmental care.

MeSH terms

Child Development / physiology*
Evidence-Based Practice*
Humans
Infant
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal*
Parents* / psychology
Practice Guidelines as Topic*
Precision Medicine*
Sleep
Systematic Reviews as Topic