Infant Mental Health: the ability for children to develop physically, cognitively, and socially in a manner which allows them to master the primary emotional tasks of early childhood without serious disruption caused by harmful life events. Because infants grow in a context of nurturing environments, infant mental health involves the psychological balance of the infant-family system.
Infant Mental Health Involves: -Adolescent Parenting -Alcohol and Other Drugs -Assessment for Family Law Issues, including Child Abuse and Custody Assessment -Diagnostic and Clinical Issues -Attachment Studies and Clinical Disorders -Autistic Spectrum and Disorders -Caregiving Contexts -Cross Cultural Studies and Issues -Emotion Regulation and Disorders of Temperament -Evaluating Parent Infant Psychotherapy -Prematurity and High Risk Infants -Preventive Intervention and Community Context -Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Lessons Learned: -Help prevent infant mortality and morbidity among Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) graduates -Provide individual counseling and support group sessions at home,at the NICU and at the LBWDC -Continuum of Care is important to maintain so that the infants receive optimal care throughout the first three years of life
Results: -No deaths after NICU discharge if in LBWDC -No repeat Very Low Birth Weight deliveries
