Typical Postnatal Development

Typical Postnatal Development

Develop Help Your Baby Grow, a 6–8 page, research-based training program for teenage parents and parents of newborns. Caring for newborns can be both rewarding and challenging for parents depending on many factors, including the interconnections among developmental outcomes and environmental supports, socialization, and personality. It is important that you understand the ways that the responses of people in the infant's environment have on the many aspects of the infant's development, including self-esteem. The early years of a child's development establish a template for subsequent emotional integration, resilience, and stability.

A newborn's brain grows very rapidly as the infant learns to be detect and interpret stimuli by their senses. Piaget's model of cognitive development explains how infants and children learn to think, process information, and begin to make sense of their world.

Your final assessment in this course gives you the opportunity to expand and apply your knowledge of the newborn-parent relationship, the impact of the environment on infant development and social emotional development, and the development and growth of the brain, cognitive skills, and perceptual senses. Survey the professional literature for information on the following topics:

• Typical physical, psychosocial, and cognitive development in the first three months of life.
• The impact of home environment on neonatal development.
• Best practices for new parents.

  Scenario

  You are a psychologist working in a program with expectant teen mothers and with parents of newborns. You have been contracted to develop content for Help Your Baby Grow, a training program.Your task is to determine the essential information expectant teens need to know about typical postnatal development in the first three months of life, and what practical things they can do to support development at this stage of life.

  Deliverable

  Keeping your audience in mind, and creating your content using language and concepts suitable for your target group, submit your recommendations in 6–8 pages.Organize your assessment with the following headings:
  • Overview of Development.
    • Summarize the typical physical, psychosocial, and cognitive development in the first three months of life (approximately two pages).
    • Outline the expected milestones.
  • The Impact of the Home Environment on Neonatal Development.
    • Provide an overview of the impact of the home environment (for example, parenting and sleep practices) on typical neonatal development. Be sure to consider cultural factors that may be relevant to teen parents (approximately two pages).
      • How does the involvement of the baby's father support the baby's development?
      • How does environment affect neonatal development?
  • Best Practices for New Parents.
    • Evaluate the research for best practices that young parents can incorporate into neonatal caregiving (approximately two pages).
      • What are simple things that parents can do to support optimal psychosocial, cognitive, and physical development in the first three months of life?
      • Written communication: Provide key health information using language and format that is comprehensible to a layperson and supported with references from the current scholarly literature and medically reviewed sources. Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
      • Length: 6–8 pages.
      • References: Include a separate references page with APA citations for scholarly literature and reputable sources. Minimum of eight recent scholarly resources; additional reputable sources may be included.