Updated September 03, 2013.

Written or reviewed by a board-certified physician. See About.com's Medical Review Board.

Definition:

Developmental care is a strategy used in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) to help reduce the amount of stress that a premature infant is exposed to. Since NICU units can be loud, bright places where alarms and blood draws make it hard for babies to rest, grow and get better, developmental care helps NICUs be more "baby friendly."

There are many specific strategies that are part of developmental care.

Some of the most basic include:

• Positioning babies in comfortable, flexed positions
• Clustering nursing care (doing blood pressures, temperatures, etc. all at once) to provide longer periods of sleep
• Turning down lights and providing a quiet, darkened environment
• Encouraging parent visitation and kangaroo care

Using developmental care in NICUs may help babies grow and get well faster and promote brain development. Developmental care helps make the transition from womb to world a little bit easier for premature or sick infants.