What are infants telling us: From neonatal nursery care to supporting optimal infant development

Each year more than 26,000 Australian babies are born preterm, arriving before 37 weeks of gestation and often requiring specialised care in neonatal nurseries. These early births bring unique medical, developmental, and emotional challenges that can have lasting impacts on both the infant and their family.

At this webinar, our panel will explore the emotional and developmental impacts of preterm birth, highlight the importance of observing and responding to infant cues, and outline practical strategies to strengthen early relationships and support preterm infants' neurodevelopment and mental health in their first year.

Please note: Registrations for this webinar are limited and will close at 4pm AEST on the day of the broadcast.

Learning outcomes:

• Describe the challenges and resilience associated with preterm birth, including long-term health outcomes and emotional impacts on families.
• Examine why it is important to observe, understand, and respond to the subtle cues and behaviours of infants within neonatal care.
• Identify infant and family centred strategies to strengthen the parent-child relationship and support infants' neurodevelopmental and mental health needs.
• Outline practical strategies that support parents to nurture preterm infants' communication, emotional, social and relational skills during their first year.

Our interdisciplinary panel: 

• Dr Natalie Duffy, Neonatologist (Vic)
• Assoc Prof Susan Nicolson, General Practitioner (Vic)
• Erin Church, Registered Nurse, Neonatal Intensive Care (Vic)

Moderator: Vicki Mansfield, Practice Development Officer (NSW)

Before the webinar: 

• Familiarise yourself with the recommended pre-webinar reading (2 research papers)
• Find out more about our panel

Date
Wednesday 18th June at 7:15pm AEST

Duration
1.25 Hours