Hushabye Nursery is proud to announce it has been awarded $150,000 from Thunderbirds Charities to sustain its inpatient care team while implementing a comprehensive Developmental Care Rollout grounded in the evidence-based Newborn Individualized Developmental Care Assessment Program (NIDCAP).
NIDCAP is a nationally recognized, family-centered approach to neonatal care that individualizes support based on each infant’s unique behavioral cues. The model reduces environmental stressors such as excessive light, noise, and handling, while promoting skin-to-skin contact and meaningful parental involvement elements proven to be critical for healthy brain development and long-term outcomes.
Over the next year, Hushabye Nursery will train all inpatient nurses, patient care associates, AmeriCorps members, and volunteers in NIDCAP principles. This training will equip the care team to better foster optimal neurodevelopment, reduce infant stress responses, and strengthen caregiver–infant bonding—outcomes supported by emerging research (BMJ Pediatrics Open, 2025).
“This investment allows us to deepen the quality of care we provide during one of the most vulnerable periods of life,” said Tara Sundem, co-founder and executive director of Hushabye Nursery. “By embedding NIDCAP principles into every layer of our inpatient program, we are ensuring that infants and families receive care that is not only compassionate but also grounded in the best available science.”
In addition to workforce training, the Thunderbirds Charities funding will support essential developmental tools and therapeutic resources, while helping bridge critical funding gaps created by inadequate Medicaid reimbursement. This support ensures that families regardless of financial or insurance barriers, continue to receive the highest standard of individualized, evidence-based care.
Through this initiative, Hushabye Nursery reaffirms its dedication to advancing equitable, trauma-informed, and developmentally supportive care, laying a stronger foundation for lifelong health and connection.
This grant is part of the Fall 2025 cycle. View a list of all Recent Grantees.