Assessing infant-oriented care with developmental support approach in Iranian NICUs

Abstract

Introduction: Developmental care program is a comprehensive program to reduce secondary effects of NICU and special care on brain development in premature infants. This study aimed to assess neonatal care situation in Iranian NICUs based on developmental approach to design and provide clinical guidelines for daily care for the caregivers and the infant’s family.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in NICU_S in Iran. A total of 23 NICUs of 9 Universities of Medical Sciences were investigated. The checklist contains 30 items in 6 domains. Data were analyzed using STATA software, version 13.

Results: The total mean score obtained from all six domains was 31.29 of 100, and in all domains, the mean scores calculated were not above 50. In “supporting infant,” “developmental caregiving activities,” “supporting the infants’ state organization,” “providing neonatal pain management,” “developmental care approaches in documentation,” and “developmental care approaches in NICU staffing,” the total mean scores were 34.76, 21.6, 20, 30.18, 31.30, and 50, respectively.

Conclusion: The low mean score of infant-centered developmental care implies health staff’s focus on neonatal care with at least the quality of care and its impact on development in preterm infants, and inadequate attention to the infant as an active member in care.

Keywords:

• Preterm infant
• infant-oriented care
• NICU
• developmental care program

Acknowledgements

The authors thank UNICEF, Iran MOHME, and Vice chancellery for research affairs of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences for their technical support.

Disclosure statement

There is no conflict of interest among the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by UNICEF [Grant number: AY/1846].