The Changing Role of Parents in Neonatal Care: A Historical Review

Over the past century, improvements in technology and neonatal care techniques have dramatically reduced infant mortality rates. While this progress continues, a growing body of literature supports the significant role that parents play in the development of infants, particularly within the hospital setting. Throughout much of the twentieth century, various barriers prevented many parents from participating in the care of their neonates, negatively influencing infant outcomes. Today parental involvement in neonatal care has become a key part of a larger familycentered care model. This historical review describes how past neonatal care practices affected the roles of parents, from absence or indirect involvement to the important involved roles of today. Understanding current trends in relation to these past experiences may encourage the formulation of family-centered care practices now and in the future.