Parental Stress in the NICU

Course overview

Medically fragile babies require specialized care. Advancements in technology and improved interventions have reduced the adverse developmental sequelae that NICU graduates often face, but many will still be diagnosed with disabilities. Some will have disabilities severe enough to prevent them from functioning independently. Parents of these infants often experience high stress levels and trauma which can affect their ability to perform parental role functions and may impair bonding within the parent-infant dyad. Impaired bonding disrupts neonatal neurodevelopment and optimal psychosocial functioning. This module describes common needs and stressors that the parents of an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) may experience, and reviews some of the adverse effects of parental stress. You will learn interventions to improve parental coping skills so you can provide developmentally supportive care for NICU infants by reducing parental stress.