abstract
- In summary, newborn intensive care is a rapidly changing field serving a heterogeneous population of infants and families. A family-centered/developmental perspective needs to be incorporated as a part of basic nursery care. Some infants and families have developmental needs beyond this baseline. The ability to respond to these needs is supported by PL 99-457. A way to sort out which infants and families might benefit from entering the IFSP process has been described. The IFSP process and plan have been presented and a framework for integrating this continuum of care into the NICU has been proposed. Implementing the IFSP process in the hospital setting needs to be approached gradually and with caution, recognizing the lack of correspondence between early risk factors and ultimate outcome.