Developmental Care for Hospitalized Infants With Complex Congenital Heart Disease

Published: January 17, 2023

premature infant held by mother in hospital
  • Developmental care (DC) for infants with complex congenital heart disease (cCHD) is an approach that individualizes care by observing and interpreting the infant’s behavior and thus modifying the environment and caregiving to meet the developmentally appropriate expectations of the infant’s brain.
  • Critical gaps in research exist in the use of DC in infants with cCHD and without current evidence of the impact of specific DC practices on outcomes, determining practice standards and establishing universal and consistent resources remains challenging.
  • Developing early interventions to promote brain maturation, mitigate risk factors, and change the trajectory of neurodevelopment are now urgent research priorities.