5th September 2025

September marks Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Awareness Month, a time dedicated to honouring the resilience of premature and critically ill infants, their families, and the healthcare professionals who care for them.

The iHV has developed a range of evidence-based learning opportunities for health visiting practitioners supporting premature and sick babies and their families, such as the iHV Neonatal Families Ambassador Training and the iHV Motor Development Toolkit available to all iHV members via the iHV website.

We also support the work of organisations like Bliss, who play a vital role in raising awareness and providing support for families — championing initiatives like the 75 Miles in September challenge to highlight that 1 in 7 babies require neonatal care.

This year, we are shining a spotlight on the brilliant work of the charity, Ei SMART – established by a small group of passionate practitioners determined to improve the quality of early intervention support being offered to families whose babies required neonatal care. The charity has developed a range of resources that will be of interest to health visiting practitioners – including their fantastic, evidence-based early intervention framework and parent-centred approach to enable all babies to reach their full potential, focused on sensory regulation, motor development, and relational health in the NICU and beyond.

This Voices Blog by Betty Hutchon, Neurodevelopmental Occupational Therapist at the University College London Hospital Trust and founding member of Ei SMART, introduces  Ei SMART – bridging the gap between hospital and community support.

Also – don’t miss our latest iHV podcast episode, where Amanda Holland, iHV Education, Learning and Development Lead, is joined by Betty Hutchon and Matt Taylor (father with lived experience). Betty brings her expert insights, expanding on the themes of this blog, while Matt shares his powerful lived experience of Ei-SMART — offering a heartfelt account of the importance of personalised early intervention during a critical window of early brain development and the difference it made to his daughter and his family’s parenting journey. It’s a moving, informative conversation that brings together clinical expertise and real-life impact. Listen to the podcast here.

When Life Begins with Disruption: Supporting Families After a Difficult Start 

Introducing Health Visitors to SMART Early Intervention (Ei SMART) for infants at high risk of developmental challenges

What happens when a child’s start in life is far from natural or typical – when it’s shaped by urgent medical interventions that are necessary for survival, but potentially challenging for future development?

This is the beginning that many families face when their baby is born prematurely or unwell and admitted to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). For these parents, the early days of parenthood are often marked by fear, isolation, and emotional upheaval. These feelings don’t disappear at discharge from the NICU – many families continue to feel adrift, especially as developmental challenges emerge over time.

Health visitors are often the first to notice the ongoing impact of early adversity on family life. You play a crucial role in recognising developmental vulnerabilities and offering timely support. This is where Ei SMART can make a difference.

What Is Ei SMART?

Ei SMART stands for Early intervention in Sensory, Motor, Attention and Regulation, and Relationships – Together.

It’s a relationship-based, evidence-informed framework, designed to support infants and families after premature birth or early medical trauma. Rooted in co-production, Ei SMART brings parents and healthcare practitioners as equal partners to deliver practical, targeted interventions during a critical window of brain development.

Founded as a charity in the UK by clinicians, academics, and parents, Ei SMART emerged from the recognition that families weren’t consistently being offered the best evidence-based support. Traditional services were often fragmented, and many babies were missing out on essential early intervention which could improve their developmental outcome.

Why It Matters for Health Visitors

Health visitors are uniquely placed to identify concerns about a baby’s development — and to guide families toward the right support. Ei SMART offers a clear, structured way to address early developmental needs across 4 key domains:

• Sensory
• Motor
• Attention and Regulation
• Relationships

Together is central to our approach by which we mean addressing all 4 domains of development Together and also working Together with parents. We recognise parents as the experts in their child’s day-to-day life and provide tools that strengthen their confidence and capacity. For practitioners, Ei SMART offers a consistent, research-based model that supports high-quality early intervention, even in complex cases.

Betty Hutchon, Neurodevelopmental Occupational Therapist at the University College London Hospital Trust and founding member of Ei SMART:

I have seen first-hand the difference the Ei SMART approach makes to both health practitioners and parents and babies, and the feedback we get confirms this. Health visitors and doctors love being able to connect families to all the free Ei SMART resources to support their child’s development, whilst therapists value the structured yet flexible framework to follow to provide effective therapy. Parents find Ei SMART easy to understand and appreciate the fact that they can advance their child’s development using normal everyday activities. Babies love it too as it is baby led and fun!

Ei SMART Bridges the Gap: Hospital to Home

One of Ei SMART’s greatest strengths is its ability to bridge the often-fragmented journey between hospital care and community support. Babies, who have had a challenging start, deserve continuity — and families need to feel supported long after discharge.

Ei SMART enables joined-up working between neonatal teams, health visitors, therapists, and families. Together, we can provide early, coordinated input that is proven to improve long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes.

A Growing Network of Collaboration

Ei SMART works closely with NHS staff, academic institutions, and parent-led organisations. We are proud to be affiliated with the British Association for Neonatal Neurodevelopmental Follow-up (BANNFU) and to partner with multidisciplinary teams across the UK.

Through these collaborations, we co-produce resources, share best practice, and extend the reach of high-impact early intervention. Our monthly newsletter reaches over 1,300 professionals and families, and our freely available leaflets, posters, and videos are consistently described by parents as essential developmental supports during difficult times.

How Health Visitors Can Get Involved

Your early involvement makes a measurable difference. Health visitors are a vital part of the Ei SMART approach—whether by signposting families to our resources, using our framework to inform developmental observations, or working directly with multidisciplinary teams to coordinate care.

Developmental videos for babies – birth to 3 months of age

 Our new developmental videos offer practical tips for parents on ways they can support their baby’s development in all domains during everyday activities such as lifting and carrying, nappy changing and playing and interacting.

By working together, we can ensure that every child — regardless of how their life began — has the best chance to reach their full developmental potential.

Find Out More

• To learn more about the Ei SMART framework and Sensory, Motor, Attention and Regulation and Relationships, visit eismart.co.uk to explore resources, read case studies, or subscribe to the newsletter.
• Find out more about iHV’s Good Practice Points and education and training programmes or contact our training department at [email protected]
• To listen to the podcast that accompanies this Voices blog please click here

Betty Hutchon, Neurodevelopmental Occupational Therapist at the University College London Hospital Trust and founding member of Ei SMART