Addressing Perinatal Mental Health Risk within a Fetal Care Center.

Diagnosis of a fetal anomaly in pregnancy increases the risk for perinatal mental health difficulties, including anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress among expectant parents. Common emotional challenges include uncertainty about the diagnosis/prognosis, anticipated neonatal course, fears of fetal or neonatal demise, loss of a typical, uncomplicated pregnancy and postpartum course, and disruption of family roles due to medical care-related activities and restrictions. Psychologists in multidisciplinary fetal care centers are uniquely positioned to assess mental health risks and address the needs of expectant parents.

Essential Knowledge and Competencies for Psychologists Working in Neonatal Intensive Care Units.

A training and competencies workgroup was created with the goal of identifying guidelines for essential knowledge and skills of psychologists working in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) settings. This manuscript reviews the aspirational model of the knowledge and skills of psychologists working in NICUs across six clusters: Science, Systems, Professionalism, Relationships, Application, and Education. The purpose of these guidelines is to identify key competencies that direct the practice of neonatal psychologists, with the goal of informing the training of future neonatal psychologists.