Family-centered care is defined as medicine founded in collaboration with family

There have been many definitions and interpretations of family-centered neonatal care. We interpret family-centered care as “neonatal medicine founded in collaboration with family.” In neonatal medicine founded in collaboration with family, neonatal health care staff and parents share the goals, bring their own strengths, and collaborate for the best outcomes for the baby and the family.

The final goal of neonatal medicine is the well-being of babies and their families. To achieve this, it is important for neonatal health care staff and parents to bring what each party can do with a good partnership in between. For example, the healthcare team is an expert in appropriate medications and ventilatory management, while parents may be better able to determine the appropriate care and its timing according to the behavior of their baby.

The practice of family-centered care requires that neonatal health care staff recognize the importance of parents and help the parents fulfill their maximum potential in neonatal medicine. However, it is not easy to implement as many of us are used to neonatal care led by healthcare staff. What we believe is particularly important is a change in the mindset of NICU staff and an improvement in staff-parent communication.

Communication and support for parents

To all healthcare staff working with newborn babies and their parents, have you had any difficulties communicating with parents or supporting them?

Your communication may impact parents and their babies significantly. Parents could be more motivated and confident, and establish a better relationship with their baby after the healthcare staff support the parents with better communication. These changes in the family also improve the baby’s outcomes.

To all parents and other family members of babies, what support was helpful if your baby had experienced NICUs or other neonatal units? Or what support would have made your stay more comfortable? Many of you may find that this includes communication with neonatal healthcare staff.

However, it is a big challenge to improve staff-parent communication in neonatal units. A change in only some healthcare staff is not enough for the unit to be changed. In addition, communication skills can’t be improved easily. The healthcare staff also need to change their mindset to understand the importance of parents. The Close Collaboration with Parents training has successfully addressed this difficult challenge.