Fragile Infant Forums for Implementation of IFCDC Standards: Supporting Regulation of Infant Sleep and Arousal States in the NICU: The Role of Non-Separation in the Revised Infant-Family Centered Developmental Care (IFCDC) Standard

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Rosemarie Bigsby, ScD, OTR/L, FAOTA; Amy Salisbury, PhD, APRN, PMH-CNS, BC, FAAN; Christie Lawrence, DNP, RNC-NIC, APN/CNS; Kathleen Kolberg, PhD

Overview:

Physiological and behavioral state regulation and support for the development of sleep and arousal patterns among preterm and sick infants, as well as how this practice can be implemented in the newborn ICU, is described in this article. A decade of studies on infant sleep consistently demonstrates positive relationships between age-appropriate patterns of sleep and arousal, brain development, and developmental outcomes (1–5), leading to sleep being widely accepted as an essential human occupation throughout the lifespan.

Human brain function relies upon age-related sleep patterns and arousal patterns for optimal brain development, including learning, cognition, executive, behavioral, and social/emotional functions. Sleep architecture and states of arousal are known to be affected by individual biological and environmental contexts (6); thus, infants with complex medical conditions who are cared for in the NICU environment, including preterm infants, are at particular risk of negative impacts on sleep and arousal patterns that could ultimately impede their overall development (7). The current evidence, addressed in the Infant-Family-Centered Developmental Care (IFCDC) Standards and Competencies (https://nicudesign.nd.edu/nicu-care-standards/ifcdc–recommendations-for-best-practice-to-support-sleep-and-arousal/) supports opportunities for close parent-infant contact, including skin-to-skin contact, as early and as often as possible, and addresses state development and regulation.

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References:

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Disclosures: The authors have no disclosures

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