The NIDCAP Federation International (NFI) holds as a primary goal the support of parents as the optimal caregivers of their infant. Parent presence and active collaboration with their hospitalized infant and the health care team, enhances the infant’s neurodevelopment.¹

The NFI acknowledges it is critical to continually reflect on the balance of safety and health concerns with known best practices to support optimal outcomes as communities, healthcare systems, hospital professionals, and families with hospitalized infants navigate COVID-19. The substantial benefits of parental participation in the care of their hospitalized infants, including skin-to-skin holding and breastfeeding,^2-6 are increasingly considered to outweigh the potential risks of the transmission of COVID-19.

It is the NFI’s position based on the research available, that non-separation of parent-infant dyads and parents’ active participation in infant care are essential to mitigate sequelae for hospitalized infants during these critical periods of development.^7-9

Board of Directors
NIDCAP Federation International
August 17, 2020

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