NURTURE | Neonatal Neurodevelopmental Nurture

• Standardized testing for motor impairments
• Supporting or providing sensory experiences like skin-to-skin (or kangaroo) care, massage therapy, bedside book reading, and music therapy
• Supporting parental mental health and bonding

Clinical Professor Melissa Scala, MD, Director of Stanford’s Nurture Program, describes developmental care as the “ultimate team sport” – Neonatology, Nursing, Child Life, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Child Psychology, Music therapy – all play a role. Multidisciplinary collaboration is critical to the overall success of our program; for example, a physical therapist may give a baby a neonatal massage while a music therapist sings a lullaby. Most important, parents are treated as integral members of the care team and are core to effective developmental care.

Our Division has a history of supporting developmental care, and generous funding from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford has allowed us to expand and enhance what we offer to families. The Nurture Program is supporting active research into the physiologic mechanisms of developmental care and best practices for implementation in the NICU setting. To serve our preterm babies, we have developed a protocol called i-Rainbow, which targets developmental care activities to the maturity and clinical stability of each child up to 44 weeks postmenstrual age. For older babies or those with complex medical conditions, like those with bronchopulmonary dysplasia or giant omphalocele, we create more customized developmental care plans.