Supporting developmental and family-centered neonatal care

Modern neonatal intensive care increasingly incorporates developmental and family-centered approaches alongside medical treatment.

These approaches aim to:

reduce unnecessary sensory stressors
support neurodevelopmentally appropriate environments
encourage parental participation
individualize neonatal care
strengthen continuity between families and newborns during hospitalization

Developmental care has become an important component of contemporary NICU practice, reflecting growing recognition of the relationship between sensory experience, parental involvement, and neonatal wellbeing during intensive care.

Incubeats was developed within this evolving clinical context.

Maternal acoustic exposure during early development

During pregnancy, the fetus is continuously exposed to maternal biological rhythms, including heartbeat, voice, breathing, and other internal acoustic patterns.

These maternal sensory cues form part of the newborn’s earliest developmental environment.

Premature birth abruptly alters this acoustic exposure during a critical stage of development, as intensive care environments necessarily differ from the sensory conditions experienced during gestation.

Incubeats was designed to support continuity of personalized maternal acoustic exposure within neonatal intensive care settings through individualized maternal voice and heartbeat recordings integrated into the incubator environment.

The objective is not to recreate the womb itself, but to support developmentally appropriate sensory continuity within modern NICU care environments.

Supporting family-centered neonatal care

Family-centered neonatal care recognizes parents as essential participants within the NICU care experience.

However, hospitalization, medical instability, and intensive care realities may sometimes limit opportunities for continuous parental presence.

Incubeats was designed to support continuity of familiar maternal acoustic cues during these periods while remaining aligned with developmental care principles and family-centered neonatal practices.

The approach aims to support:

parental participation
sensory continuity
developmentally supportive care environments
individualized neonatal care practices
integration within existing developmental care approaches

Designed for NICU integration

Incubeats was designed specifically for neonatal intensive care environments.

The system is intended to integrate within existing developmental care practices and NICU workflows through an external, non-contact and caregiver-guided approach.

Clinical implementation objectives include:

external, non-contact compatibility with neonatal intensive care environments
integration within developmental care protocols
support for family-centered care initiatives
individualized maternal acoustic exposure
feasibility within routine NICU care practices, including hygiene, workflow and reduced-handling considerations

The approach is intended to remain adaptable to the realities and constraints of intensive neonatal care environments.

A distinct external, non-contact approach

Incubeats is designed as an external, non-contact approach to introducing familiar parental acoustic references within NICU environments.

The playback system is positioned outside the incubator, rather than being worn by the baby or placed directly inside the incubator environment.

This design choice is intended to support NICU integration by reducing unnecessary handling of the infant, avoiding additional equipment on the baby, and limiting potential disruption to incubator temperature, humidity and infection-control practices.

The system is designed to support controlled use, including volume, duration and developmental-stage adapted parameters, under the guidance of neonatal care teams.

Incubeats is therefore not positioned as generic sound playback, but as a controlled, external and family-centered approach intended to complement developmental care and Family Integrated Care practices.

A clinically responsible approach

Incubeats is committed to a clinically responsible and evidence-oriented approach to neonatal innovation.

The project is being developed collaboratively with clinicians, hospitals, and neonatal care teams interested in advancing developmental and family-centered NICU care practices.

Current areas of evaluation include:

feasibility within NICU environments
integration into clinical workflows
caregiver and parental acceptance
implementation within developmental care practices