Strategies to support language development in neonatal intensive care unit: a narrative review

Despite neonatal intensive care advancements and quality improvements, preterm infants often experience delays in speech and language development during early childhood. The etiological pathway of language delays is multifactorial, including younger gestational age at birth, male sex, pregnancy complications including gestational diabetes mellitus and preeclampsia, organic pathology from neonatal morbidities, environmental factors of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and prolonged hospitalization, home environment including socioeconomic status and parental education, and parent-infant interactions. As early language experiences and environments are crucial for the development of language processing, strategies to support language development should be implemented from the NICU onward. This study aimed to summarize evidence- based strategies for language development through an extensive review of nutrition, NICU environment, language and sound exposure, developmental care interventions, and family-centered care. Promoting breastfeeding, increasing parent-infant interactions in a single-family room setting, nurturing the language environment via parental book reading and language interventions, and parent-integrated interventions in the NICU could potentially enhance language development among preterm infants. These supportive strategies can be integrated through family-centered care, which recognizes parents as primary caregivers and collaborative partners.