Author Description

"The availability of services provided by psychologists in perinatal care is a relatively recent event. It remains uncommon for a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to have a psychologist as a dedicated staff member, although the number of NICU psychologists is increasing. This volume is primarily concerned with perinatal services provided by psychologists. I do, however, want to make note at the beginning of the valuable role of social workers as a complement to the care offered by psychologists. Social workers have been available in NICUs since the mid-1960s. The National Association of Perinatal Social Workers (NAPSW) was founded in 1980 to help standardize training and services. The initial focus of perinatal social workers was service delivery in the NICU, but social work services soon spread to antepartum care and follow-up. NAPSW has published an excellent set of standards for a variety of activities including fertility counseling, bereavement, obstetric settings, adoptions, field education, and surrogacy. Some activities of social workers overlap with those of psychologists, but each discipline has its own set of unique skills. Social workers are often involved in case and crisis management, bedside family support, and discharge planning in the NICU"--