The neonatal intensive care unit

The presence of liaison psychiatrists on neonatal intensive care units underscores the medical commitment to provision of humane care for those in distress. The increasing number of neonatal intensive care units with their technologic advances are yielding greater salvage of infants with lower birth weights and with more severe medical problems. As these NICU's become more generally used and more available, psychiatrists will be increasingly called upon to provide services to help infants indirectly and parents and staff more directly. As a result there can be little doubt that experiences, problems, and programs of liaison psychiatrists on neonatal intensive care units will be topics of growing interest in the future.