Promoting Infant Mental Health in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
“The environment and caregiving relationships in the early postnatal period are critical to an infant’s development, with implications for physical, social-emotional, and neurocognitive development. Premature and medically vulnerable infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are biologically and neurologically more vulnerable and go through many stressors including some degree of separation from their parents, an intrusive and unnatural environment, and painful and distressing procedures. their parents, in turn, experience higher rates of psychological distress and can face challenges in establishing an optimal relationship with their babies in this setting. In this talk, Dr. Givrad will point out some of the ways we can think about promoting premature and medically vulnerable infants’ wellbeing.”
