The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale. Clinical use with drug exposed infants and their mothers.

The NNNS provides a comprehensive assessment of the at-risk and drug-exposed infant. The examination was developed for research and has now been extended to clinical practice. It is routinely used in our hospital in several clinical programs. In this article we detailed how the examination is used with substance-involved mothers and their infants. As we continue to develop assessment procedures based on understanding the capacities of the infant and understanding the parenting capacities of mothers, we will improve our ability to secure the welfare of drug-exposed infants.