Abstract
Congenital heart disease (CHD), the result of structural changes to the heart present at birth, is the most common congenital birth condition. As survival rates for infants with complex CHD have increased in recent years, risk for neurodevelopmental challenges has also increased. Early referral to developmentally supportive care is recommended as best practice; however, there is limited information about how to best support occupations of infants with CHD as early as possible while still in the hospital. Recommendations for developmentally supportive care structured around occupations of infancy, existing developmental care models, and current evidence are reviewed and discussed for infants hospitalized following cardiac surgery. Key occupations of infancy discussed include movement and sensory exploration, procurement (communication of needs), sleep, feeding, and social interaction and play. Future work is recommended to develop occupation-based training and education resources for interprofessional hospital staff about developmentally supportive care for the hospitalized infant with CHD.