Building A Brighter Future For High Risk Infants

EiSMART is an evidence based framework to give high risk babies the best start in life. We span all aspects of a child’s development: Sensory, Motor, Attention and Regulation, and Relationships. Professionals and parents work Together to support premature and sick infants from birth (Early Intervention).

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Ei SMART for Neonatologists and Paediatricians

Date:  8th May 2025 and 15th October 2025

Location: University College London Hospital (UCLH)

Course Fee: £150

Course lead: Dr Audrienne Sammut, Consultant Neonatologist, University College London Hospital

Learn how to support parents and advance young children’s developmental skills using the Ei SMART framework during your consultation.

The content of this study day is aimed specifically at neonatologists and paediatricians who are involved in the neurodevelopmental assessment of high-risk infants in follow up clinics. If you would like to enhance your ability to provide developmental support and anticipatory guidance to parents to promote optimal child development, then this training is for you.

You will gain insight into how to support and guide parents with their infant’s developmental process as part of your multi-disciplinary follow up team or until additional and specialised services are available.

You will learn how to provide targeted early intervention focussing on everyday activities which are understandable for parents and their infants, based on commonly seen developmental challenges in the first 2 years.

Content includes common neurological and developmental concerns and Anticipatory Guidance and Early Intervention at the following ages:

  • 0-3 months
  • 3-6 months
  • 6-12 months
  • 12-24 months
  • Overview of the Ei SMART framework and evidence underpinning/supporting the approach
  • How co-production is embedded within the Ei SMART approach

Ei SMART is a framework for clinical reasoning based on evidence-based principles to give high risk babies the best start in life. It spans infant development from birth to pre-school and beyond. It uniquely supports infant development by integrating Sensory, Motor, Attention and regulation and Relational development through co-production between multi-disciplinary healthcare professionals and parents working Together.

This study day is co-developed and presented by our team of therapists, (OT, PT, SLT), nursing and medical practitioners, and parents with lived experience of having babies and young children with developmental differences and challenges.

Register here

Enquiries: ucla.educationevents@nhs.net

CPD accreditation in progress

Study Days

Dates for EISMART Study Days in 2025

Following the huge success of our study days in 2023/24 we are delighted to offer a range of study day options for 2025.  If you can’t see what you are looking for please get in touch as we can also offer bespoke training for your team.

Click on the download button for our programme of study days. We currently have three courses running, Foundation Level training and Implementation Training for Neonatal Units and Implementation in the community. The programme includes details of how you can book your place through EventBrite.

We also have new dates for our course specifically for neonatologists and paediatricians working in neurodevelopmental follow up clinics who want to learn early intervention skills and strategies to pass on to parents in their clinics. Visit our event page to find out more detail and course dates.

Giving Every High Risk Infant The Best Start In Life

EiSMART is a framework for improving developmental outcomes for high risk infants. It is an approach founded in research, which combines multiple disciplines, to address every aspect of development in premature and sick babies. EiSMART is a uniquely collaborative approach, where professionals and parents work Together to provide early and more effective interventions for infants and young children with developmental challenges. Click on the balls to learn more.

How We Help

We provide resources to support child development, and deliver training courses to support professional development. We collaborate on research to advance practice in early intervention, and we influence policy on the care of high risk infants.

  • 20

    Countries

    using EiSMART resources.

  • 1000+

    Professionals

    Have been introduced to the EiSMART network

  • 100+

    Families

    Have been introduced to the EiSMART network

Invaluable For Us & Our Baby

“In the beginning of my NICU journey I cried every day. There is no other outlet for the hurt, the sadness, the fear – especially the fear – of giving birth so early. In NICU, everything about those first weeks is different to how it should be. You emerge from that darkness into an intense, overwhelming, medical world where you feel utterly helpless to do the most natural thing: care for your baby. Stumbling upon EiSMART was like finding fresh air, after a long, dark time under water. It helped me recover purpose; recover focus; recover the ability to care for my baby.”

– Parent of baby born at 24 weeks’ gestation