Designing environments for developmental care.

The environment of care has been recognized as an important factor in the healing process for centuries. This is true for all individuals but none more so than newborn infants, for whom the hospital is not only a place of healing but also where an extraordinary and unique period of growth and development must occur-it cannot wait until after the infant is well and discharged home. This article describes the optimal environment for developmental care in the neonatal intensive care unit.