From the Heart: Strengthening Family Engagement in the NICU
Key Highlights
- Practical, accessible resources to support parental presence every day in the NICU
- Created for parents and practitioners to strengthen shared goals around family-centred care
- Encourages early attachment and family-infant connection that supports lifelong mental health
- Helps create welcoming NICU spaces where families are included from day one
- Grounded in infant mental health research
From the Heart is a parent‑focused resource developed to support parents and caregivers of babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Developed through interdisciplinary collaboration with parents who have lived NICU experience and healthcare professionals, it brings together clinical evidence and lived experience to support families during their NICU journey.
The resource highlights the important role parents and caregivers play as active members of their baby’s care team, supporting early connection, attachment, and engagement, while also promoting infant development and parent confidence throughout the NICU stay.
Admission to the NICU is often a stressful experience for both infants and families. Medically fragile infants face increased risks for emotional, cognitive, and developmental challenges, while families may experience uncertainty, worry, and a reduced sense of control within a complex medical environment.
Research consistently shows that early relationships and responsive interactions are foundational for infant regulation, attachment, brain development, and long-term mental health outcomes. Parental presence, voice, and gentle touch help support co-regulation, foster a sense of safety, and promote healthy developmental pathways during this critical period.
These everyday interactions not only support infant development but also strengthen parental confidence in their ability to support their baby.
Developmental and family-integrated care approaches in NICUs emphasize the importance of family involvement as a core component of high-quality neonatal care. However, families are not always given clear, practical guidance on how their presence and interactions support both their baby’s development and their own well-being.
From the Heart translates these evidence-based principles into accessible, practical guidance that supports both infant development and long-term mental health outcomes for children and families.
Booklet: From the heart - Parenting your baby in the NICU
A comprehensive parent booklet, provided digitally for convenient use and distribution throughout the NICU, with unlimited downloads.
The booklet is designed as a 5.5 × 8.5-inch finished booklet, intended to be printed on standard 8.5 × 11” paper and folded into a book-style format.
Alternatively, it can be printed as individual full-page 8.5 × 11” sheets, depending on local preference.
It is available in:
- Web-viewer format and printable PDF format
- Full colour and greyscale versions
- French version (coming soon)
Poster Series for NICUs
A companion set of 7 digital posters designed to be printed for display within the NICU to reinforce key messages from the booklet.
Posters are available in:
- 8.5 x 11 inches or 11 x 17 inches
- Portrait and landscape orientation
- French version (coming soon)
Video
Upon purchase, users will receive access to a short video that explains how to use the booklet and poster series within the NICU.
While families are the intended primary users of From the Heart, its value extends across the NICU environment:
- Infants, by supporting early relationships that contribute to regulation, attachment, and development
- Families, by offering practical guidance that encourages confidence, clarity, and meaningful participation in care
- Clinical teams, by strengthening family engagement and shared understanding around family-centred care
- NICU units and hospitals, by reinforcing family-integrated and developmental care practices and promoting early relational health
From the Heart is designed to be used throughout the NICU experience, alongside routine medical care.
The booklet supports families at their own pace, with content that can be revisited as needed.
The poster series is intended to be displayed within the NICU, reinforcing key messages and supporting a family-centred care environment. We encourage clinicians to share printed versions of these materials with families as part of care, education, or relational support in the NICU.
Upon purchase, a short video is provided to guide NICU teams in integrating and using the resources together.
Preview the booklet and poster series with your team using the digital sample files below.
These materials are provided for review and reference only and are not intended for printing or distribution.
View the digital samples here:
The digital package is available for only $99.99 CAD.
From the Heart is a passion-driven initiative led by clinicians, parents, and educators to strengthen relationships between families and their infants.
Pricing reflects the cost of developing, producing, and sustaining these resources and follows a cost-recovery approach. To help preserve the integrity and intended use of the resources, this purchase includes a license for non-commercial use within NICU settings. This license precludes the sharing of digital files in this resource.
To place an order, complete the order form. After the form is submitted, our team will follow up by email with an invoice to complete your order.
For questions, custom requests, or inquiries about poster sizes or formats, please contact: iemhp.mail@sickkids.ca
Once payment is received, you will receive a downloadable package containing all From the Heart materials, delivered by email or secure file transfer.
