Special Care Babies and their Developing Relationships

Special care babies are at the centre of a complex system of relationships involving both family members and professionals. Prematurity, disability and life-threatening situations create a crisis which is likely to have a different meaning for each participant. Each baby's developing relationships will both influence and be influenced by relationships within the hospital and the family system. Special Care Babies and their Developing Relationships puts professionals in touch with how babies, their parents and the staff who care for them actually experience neonatal care. The book explores institutional, cultural and family beliefs about prematurity and considers the differences in beliefs and in needs of parents and staff. Anne McFadyen argues that to support the key mother-child relationship, these differences must be acknowledged, as they are at the heart of the relationship between two crucial systems which have the power to influence the baby's survival and the rest of his or her life.

Anne McFadyen is Senior lecturer in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Dundee.

Introduction; Parent-Child Relationships from Different Perspectives; The `Special Care' Baby; Holding on to Meaning; Observations in a Special Care Baby Unit; Stories from a Special Care Baby Unit; Observer and Observed; Making Sense of the Experience; Case Studies; Therapeutic Interventions; The Future; Concluding Comments