ABSTRACT
According to Orme and Boxall! transitional care is 'intermediate neonatal care', where babies receive frequent observation and treatment, but not constant surveillance on a minute-to-minute basis 24 hours around the clock. This concept is based on the original idea of the Committee on the Fetus and Newborn of the American Academy of Pediatrics2• The Exeter model! lays stress on facilities for parents and siblings, the encouragement of parent staff co-operation and the joint sharing of responsibility for the newborn, and is provided on specially designated lying-in wards. These same aims underly the organisation of neonatal units in Scandinavia. During the last decade, as the number of intensive care cots has increased, some wards have developed as pure intensive care units while the majority mix intensive and special care. This chapter describes the situation in Sweden where the need for neonatal intensive care cots is relatively low, and describes the attempts made to improve parent-infant relations and parental reactions to the care provided.
