Family-Centered Developmentally Supportive Care

The prematurely born infant is probably the most vulnerable patient in our hospitals due to his or her immaturity. Over recent years, the importance of neurodevelopmentally supportive care has become more obvious. In addition, to provide the best possible treatment and environmental conditions for the vital functions of the infant to properly develop, we also have to support the psychological processes of bonding and attachment between parents and infant, which are so crucial for long-term health and development. By integrating scientific findings from natural and behavioral sciences, multidisciplinary developmentally supportive interventions programs, recommendations for redesigning nurseries, and integrating families have developed to meet these challenges. It not only is “infant and family friendly” but has economic benefits and improves the long-term development of the child. The basis of family-centered, developmentally supportive care interventions is the recognition that the newborn infant is a human being in his or her own right, and letting the caregivers be guided by the current needs of the individual infant and family. Care and intervention based on the infant's own behavior makes good biological sense and is also ethically attractive.