By Erin Church, Neonatal Nurse in Australia
This article is the first of a new standing feature of our newsletters called ‘The Baby’s Voice Around the World’, where we bring news and insights from our Brazelton colleagues across the globe.
The Newborn Traffic Light Tool© is the result of being bold and not being afraid to ask questions.
After a particularly challenging NICU shift where I found myself feeling helpless to support a dysregulated infant during a painful procedure, I attended a workshop on the Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) with visiting Professor Kevin Nugent. I had only heard about the NBO in passing. I was introduced to the idea that babies communicate through an intricate behavioural repertoire and that clinicians can provide graded support to help regulate a baby during moments of pain and stress. The concept was eye-opening and led me to ask the question: what if we had a bedside clinical advocacy poster that could empower nurses and parents to support infants better during pain and stress in the neonatal unit?
I brought my idea to NBO Australasia’s heads – Associate Professor Susan Nicolson and Associate Professor Campbell Paul – and we assembled a team to draft the poster. After many iterations we presented it to attendees at a high-risk infant NBO workshop. The response was positive, and we realised there was both a need for this resource, and education to support it. From there, we built an accompanying online learning module to support its use, ensure its integrity in diverse settings, to give clinicians insight into baby behaviours, and to inspire them to seek further training. The module is enriched by artistic images kindly provided by The Brazelton Centre, UK and by videos of families at the Mercy Hospital for Women, Australia, demonstrating neurodevelopmentally-informed caregiving.
Together the poster and online learning module comprise the Newborn Traffic Light Tool©. In 2023, at the World Association for Infant Mental Health congress in Dublin, Ireland, we launched the Newborn Traffic Light Tool©.
Grounded in robust evidence-based neurodevelopmental and infant mental health frameworks, including the work of Brazelton (NBAS, 1973), Als (Synactive Theory of Development, 1986), Nugent (NBO, 2007), and their esteemed colleagues, the Newborn Traffic Light Tool© provides clinicians with:
- A list of baby behaviours, or cues, that show if the baby is stressed (red cues), becoming stressed (yellow cues), or if they are calm and comfortable (green cues)
- Guidance on what to do if baby shows these cues
- Ways in which the team (parents and clinicians) can support the baby
The tool has been well received by Brazelton Institute in Boston and the Newborn Behavior International community and is the subject of two current studies.
If you or your organisation are interested in using the tool in your clinical setting, or in research into the tool, please register your interest with us using this link or QR code. We look forward to hearing from you!
