Neonatal allied health professionals

Psychological therapists, including child and adolescent psychotherapists and clinical psychologists with specialist expertise in neonatology provide psychological wellbeing assessment and interventions for parents, infants and staff on neonatal units. Interventions can either be delivered to individual parents, families or in a group. They work as part of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) and provide consultation to medical teams on complex cases. Psychological therapists have specific training in building relationships and intervening when there is conflict or high stress. They also supervise other professionals delivering psychological interventions such as nurses carrying out counselling activities and family support workers, as well as coordinating additional specialist support in relation to parent and infant wellbeing, relationships and neurodevelopmental outcomes.

A few words from one of our psychologists

Hi, I’m Siobhan Higgins. I’m a consultant clinical psychologist and the psychology lead for Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS) Neonatal ODN. I have a background working in infant mental health, children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), neurodevelopmental and paediatric services alongside clinical research.  In addition to my clinical psychology background, I’m a trained parent-infant psychotherapist with a passion and specialist experience working with women in pregnancy and families in the early years.   
 
In my role, I am keen to draw on my experience in service development and passion for parent and infant mental health. My primary focus will be to help the development and psychological support across the units.  As a first step, working with the other ODN psychology leads in England, we have developed a staffing standards document, based on best evidence and celebrating parent voices. My next step, will be to build stronger links with senior unit staff across the locality and think how posts can be developed.   I also hope to connect with perinatal and maternity services, as well as charitable organisations, to think about care pathways for neonatal families.  I look forward to meeting and working with you in the coming months and please be in touch if you think I can help in any way.  

Outside of work, I'm a mum to two lively boys and spend my free time on the tennis court or at the side-lines of the hockey pitch cheering them on.

Speech and language therapists (SLTs) have a specific role in the early identification, assessment and management of oral feeding and swallowing difficulties in neonates.

SLTs are specialists in providing pre-oral feeding support and assessment of readiness for oral feeding, evaluation of breastfeeding and bottle feeding. They understand the complexities of oral feeding especially with regards to respiratory devices and are often trained in instrumental objective assessment such as video fluoroscopy swallow studies (VFSS).

SLTs have a role in reducing the risk of known prolonged feeding difficulties such as delayed nasogastric tube weaning, oral aversion and future difficulties progressing with weaning onto solids.

SLTs also have expertise in early communication and how to maximise the opportunities for supporting speech, language and communication development through supporting parents with their baby in the unique neonatal unit environment.

Physiotherapists (PT) provide highly specialised observation, assessment, intervention in movement, gross motor and postural control in the rapidly changing physiology and behavioural stability of neonatal babies.

Physiotherapists provide therapeutic interventions such as positioning for optimal neurobehavioral regulation enabling protected sleep, and positioning and supportive regulation for positive feeding experiences. Neurodevelopmental physiotherapists support families and educate parents to optimise their baby's brain development during their neonatal stay as well as supporting parent infant relationships.

Respiratory physiotherapy plays an important role where physiotherapists assess the need for intervention and balance that against the physiological cost, energy expenditure and developmental needs of the infant. It is important to optimise respiratory function to enable growth and development.

Dietitians have a specialist role in the complex nutritional care needs of neonatal babies. The need for optimum nutritional support is paramount as evidence points to short- and long-term adverse consequences of poor nutrient intake and growth in this population.

Dietitians conduct nutritional assessments and determine nutritional requirements based on growth charts, biochemical parameters, medications, medical/surgical interventions prior to designing complex nutritional care plans for each individual infant. Dietitians have extensive knowledge of the use of breast milk in preterm infants and support establishing and maintenance of lactation and the transition to breastfeeding. They understand the composition and use of breast milk fortifier (BMF), specialist preterm and term formula to supplement nutrition as needed.

Occupational therapists promote infant neurodevelopment on the neonatal unit by enabling parents and caregivers to provide individualised developmentally supportive care. Adapting the environment to promote the best sensory experience for brain development.

Occupational therapists support the parent-infant relationship by helping parents understand their infants' behavioural cues and signs of stress. They work with parents/carers to help infants regulate their neuro-behavioural body systems. This enables them to take part in caregiving activities in a supportive and meaningful way.

Occupational therapists use specialist assessment and early interventions focused on sensory, motor, attention, regulation and play development to make sure infants reach their developmental potential. This supports their participation in co-occupations such as sleeping, eating and early interaction, which are crucial for the health and development of infants and parents/carers.