NCSA Scope of Practice
For Newborn Care Specialists
GENERAL NCSA SCOPE OF PRACTICE:
An NCS contract should have a detailed list of duties that are within the NCS scope of practice.
A Newborn Care Specialist will typically perform the following duties:
- Educating and supporting parents in their parenting roles
- Creating a smooth transition for the family during the newborn stage
- Maintaining a thorough log of infant feeding, sleeping, and other health, behavioral and developmental concerns
- Soothing babies using proven techniques and skills
- Providing direct care for the newborn, including some or all of the following tasks, as requested:
AREAS OF EXPERTISE:
- Promoting Infant Development and Learning.
- Building Family and Community Relationships.
- Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Infants and Families.
- Using Developmentally Effective Approaches.
- Using Content Knowledge to Co-create Meaningful Interactions.
- Becoming and Being a Professional.
DETAILED NCSA SCOPE OF PRACTICE:
GENERAL STATEMENTS ON NCSA SCOPE of PRACTICE:
Newborn Care Specialists create a safe, healthy environment
Newborn Care Specialists optimize the physical and intellectual competence of infants
Newborn Care Specialists support social and emotional development through positive guidance and caring practices
Newborn Care Specialists co-create positive and productive partnerships with families
Newborn Care Specialists ensure a well-executed, coherent and purposeful professional practice that is responsive to the needs of the family
Newborn Care Specialists maintain a perpetual commitment to professionalism
EXPANDED STATEMENTS ON NCSA SCOPE OF PRACTICE:
Newborn Care Specialists help parents provide a safe and healthy environment, and model safe and healthy practices to prevent and reduce injuries.
Newborn Care Specialists promote good health and nutrition practices and help parents learn how to maintain an environment that contributes to physical and mental wellness for infants and parents.
Newborn Care Specialists use and help parents understand how to use relationships, the physical space, materials, daily schedules, and home routines as resources for constructing a secure, interesting, and enjoyable environment that encourages and fosters trust, engagement, play, exploration, interaction and learning for infants, including infants who are experiencing disabilities and special needs.
Newborn Care Specialists use and help parents provide a variety of developmentally appropriate equipment, learning experiences and teaching strategies to promote the physical development (fine motor and gross motor) of infants.
Newborn Care Specialists use and help parents use a variety of developmentally appropriate learning experiences to provide opportunities that encourage infants to experience sound, rhythm and language.
Newborn Care Specialists provide families with culturally appropriate support, develop and help parents develop a warm, positive, supportive, and responsive relationship with each infant, and help parents and infants take pride in their individual and cultural identities and heritage.
Newborn Care Specialists understand the importance of using inclusive language and that our language choices can help contribute to a space where parents know they are safe and valued.
Newborn Care Specialists establish a positive, responsive, and cooperative relationship with the infant’s family, engage in two-way communication with the family and encourage the parents to take leadership in decisions regarding their infant.
Newborn Care Specialists use and facilitate all available resources (in the community and elsewhere) to meet the needs and interests of the families. Newborn Care Specialists use observation, documentation and planning to support infants’ development and learning and to ensure effective professional practice.
Newborn Care Specialists are competent organizers, planners, record keepers, communicators, and cooperative team players.
Newborn Care Specialists make decisions based on knowledge of research-based early childhood practices and adult learning, promote high-quality infant care services, and take advantage of opportunities to improve knowledge and competence, both for personal and professional growth and for the benefit of infants and families.
LIMITATIONS OF SCOPE OF PRACTICE:
A newborn care specialist does not provide medical advice, medical care or procedures (unless also qualified to do so) but should be knowledgeable about medical procedures and issues concerning newborns and provide evidence-based information only.
Newborn Care specialists do not practice non-responsive, cry-it-out methods which are developmentally inappropriate before 4-6 months (adjusted) and do not co-sleep. Please refer to the NCSA Statement on Sleep Training.
A newborn care specialist must recognize when the infant’s care needed goes beyond the Newborn Care Specialist's scope of practice and should know which specialized professionals to refer to.
If a Newborn Care Specialist has qualifications in alternative or complementary modalities (such as aromatherapy, homoeopathy, infant massage etc.), they must make it clear to clients and others that those modalities are an additional service outside of the Newborn Care Specialist Scope of Practice.
A newborn care specialist should not speak for the parents or come between the parents and family and other professionals.