Infant Mental Health (IMH) in the Intensive Care Unit: Considerations for the Infant, the Family and the Staff

Providing Continuity in Infant Mental Health Services for Medically Fragile Infants and Their Families

“…All services are provided in collaboration with the medical team and the medical social workers, with regular discussions about the roles of various team members to ensure good coordination. In addition, the IMH specialists utilize a reflective stance to support team members in expanding their understanding of infants and families and offer insight and strategies to address the strong reactions the work with families in these intensive settings may bring (Browne, 2021 ; Browne & Talmi, 2017 ; Browne et al, 2016 ). In addition, the IMH team supports staff in fostering the infant-parent bond and parental sense of competence in caring for their medically complex baby.…”

“…The goal is to prevent adverse outcomes for the young child and to intervene when biological, psychosocial, and environmental factors place the child’s development and attachment relationship at risk (Weatherston & Browne, 2016 ). Babies diagnosed prenatally or postnatally with a medical condition requiring hospitalization are at considerable risk for developmental (Caskey et al, 2014 ; Grunau, 2013 ; Johnson et al, 2015 ; Oudgenoeg-Paz et al, 2017 ; Rand & Lahav, 2014 ) and behavioral challenges (Lean et al, 2018 ; Vanderbilt & Gleason, 2010 ) due the disruption to co-regulatory opportunities that are the foundation for early development (Browne, 2021 ; Browne et al, 2016 ). They are also at risk for attachment disruptions given the stress associated with intrusive and discomforting medical procedures, separations often associated with a NICU stay, and parents’ reduced ability to buffer the infant from stress due to reduced proximity.…”

“…Having an infant admitted to a NICU has been found to impact parental mental health through post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety (Aftyka, et al, 2017 ; Alkozei, et al, 2014 ; Roque, et al, 2017 ). Practitioners have described the impact NICU hospitalizations have on the parent–child relationship and the close physical contact which is so important for the development of co-regulatory capacities (Browne & Talmi, 2017 ; Browne, et al, 2016 ; Weatherston & Browne, 2016 ). Therefore, the mental health consultant must be aware of how hospitalization in a NICU can impact the parent, the individual infant, and the parent-infant dyad (Hoffman, et al, 2020 ).…”

Family-Centered Care at Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Units in Germany and the Relationship With Parent and Infant Well-Being: A Study Protocol

“…The hospital environment may therefore be an important target for interventions to improve the developmental and psychosocial outcome in this population. A compelling approach to advance the infant's healthcare ecosystem to be more developmentally supportive is Family-Centered Care (FCC), which may promote infant health irrespective of the medical condition (12,13).…”