Introduction
Welcome to the Empowering NICU Parents’ Podcast!
Our podcast is dedicated to supporting, educating, and empowering parents navigating the challenges of having a baby in the NICU.
What if one of the greatest gifts we can give a baby in the NICU isn’t something we give to the baby at all—but something we give to their parents?
In this inspiring episode of the Empowering NICU Parents’ Podcast, Nicole Nyberg welcomes Lisa Kleinz, MA, SLP/L, CNT, Director of Education at Dr. Brown’s Medical, and former NICU parent Liz Barker to explore how the Infant-Driven Feeding® (IDF) Program is transforming the way NICU teams partner with families.
Although feeding is at the heart of the conversation, this episode reveals that the Infant-Driven Feeding® Program is about so much more than breastfeeding or bottles. It is a family-centered, developmental care approach that intentionally educates, includes, and empowers parents from the very beginning of their baby’s NICU journey. By teaching families how to recognize their baby’s unique cues, supporting positive feeding experiences, and creating a shared language among the entire care team, IDF helps parents become confident caregivers while promoting safer, developmentally appropriate feeding practices and stronger long-term outcomes.
Through Liz’s heartfelt story of her daughter Lucy’s 28-week NICU journey, listeners will hear how one nurse’s intentional teaching—and an entire NICU team’s commitment to family-centered care—helped transform fear and uncertainty into confidence. From her first colostrum swab to learning Lucy’s cues, participating in caregiving, and ultimately exclusively breastfeeding after discharge, Liz shares how being intentionally included in her daughter’s care changed not only her NICU experience, but her confidence as a parent long after going home.
Lisa also discusses the growing body of research supporting the Infant-Driven Feeding® Program, highlighting improvements in parent confidence and satisfaction, breastfeeding success, safer feeding practices, developmental outcomes, and reduced time to full oral feedings and hospital length of stay.
Whether you’re a NICU parent, clinician, therapist, or hospital leader, this episode serves as a powerful reminder that empowering parents isn’t an added benefit of excellent neonatal care—it’s an essential part of it.
More Than Feeding: How the Infant-Driven Feeding® Program Empowers NICU Parents – Empowering NICU Parents' Podcast
- More Than Feeding: How the Infant-Driven Feeding® Program Empowers NICU Parents
- The Presence Study Toolkit: Helping NICUs Translate Evidence into Practice
- Beyond the NICU: How Small Moments Shape a Developing Brain
- The Why Behind Empowering NICU Parents
- From NICU Experience to Nonprofit Mission: A Family’s Journey to Today Is a Good Day
Episode Sponsors
Dr. Brown’s Medical
Dr. Brown’s Medical strives to deliver valuable infant feeding products and programs to support parents and professionals in providing positive feeding experiences for the infants in their care. Traditional feeding products and practices in the NICU are inconsistent and can result in poor feeding outcomes.
Dr. Brown’s® unique Dr. Brown’s® Zero-Resistance™; nipples with reliable flow rates; and The Infant-Driven Feeding™ are evidence-based, standard-of-care practices that improve infant feeding outcomes.
The team at Dr. Brown’s Medical is available to provide support for you and your team to help achieve best-practice results. They provide 4 free webinars every year on various infant feeding topics and offer continuing education hours for Nurses, Occupational Therapists, and Speech-language Pathologists.
To learn more or speak with Dr. Brown’s Medical team, click HERE.
Ergo Baby
Ergobaby, a trusted leader in products designed to support healthy development, bonding, and everyday parenting. From their award-winning ergonomic baby carriers and soft wraps to strollers, nursing pillows, bouncers, high chairs, and sleep solutions, Ergobaby creates thoughtfully designed products that grow with your family.
One of the many reasons we love Ergobaby is their commitment to healthy infant development. Their baby carriers and wraps are acknowledged as hip healthy by the International Hip Dysplasia Institute, helping support your baby’s natural “M-shaped” position while keeping your little one close for comfort, bonding, and hands-free convenience.
Our NICU Roadmap
Our NICU Roadmap is the only NICU journal parents will need. Our journal is a great resource for NICU parents with educational content, answers to many of their questions, a full glossary plus specific areas to document their baby’s progress each day while in the NICU. Our NICU Roadmap equips parents with questions to ask their baby’s care team each day as well as a designated place to keep track of their baby’s weight, lab values, respiratory settings, feedings, and the plan of care each day. Most importantly, Our NICU Roadmap guides parents and empowers them so they can confidently become and remain an active member of their baby’s care team.
Our NICU Roadmap is available for purchase on Amazon or contact us at empoweringnicuparents@yahoo.com to order in bulk at a discounted price for your hospital or organization.
Click HERE for additional information and images of Our NICU Roadmap.
Newborn Holiday Cards
Celebrate every one of your baby’s first holidays with these beautiful, unique holiday cards. There is a card for every major and minor holiday so you will not miss capturing the perfect photo opportunity during your baby’s first year!
Each uniquely designed card is 5 x 5 and will make the perfect photo prop as you celebrate all of your baby’s first holidays! The cards are downloadable, so you can get them right away!
Episode 82
Our Guests
Liz Barker
Liz Barker is a Sarasota County School Board Member, former school psychologist, and proud mom of four children. She is passionate about public education, children’s mental health, and creating communities where every child can thrive.
Her youngest daughter, Lucy, is 7 years old and a rising second grader. Although she is the youngest of four, she does not let that stop her from running the household with confidence, humor, and endless energy. Lucy was born at 28 weeks and spent nearly three months in the NICU, an experience that forever changed her family’s perspective on resilience, hope, and the extraordinary care provided by NICU care teams.
Today, Lucy is thriving. She is an advanced reader with a quick wit and an infectious sense of humor. She loves fishing, hiking, canoeing, swimming, riding her bike, and spending time at the beach. She approaches life with curiosity, determination, and a sense of adventure that inspires everyone around her.
Liz is grateful for the opportunity to share their family’s story and hopes it offers encouragement to other NICU families and reminds listeners of the incredible strength children and their families can discover through life’s unexpected challenges
Lisa Kleinz, MA, SLP/L, CNT
Lisa Kleinz, MA, SLP/L, CNT is the Director of Education for Dr. Brown’s Medical. Her role is to explore, create, and deliver valuable educational, developmental care-focused resources to the Dr. Brown’s Medical team as well as healthcare professionals in the field of infant feeding. In this role, Lisa provides evidence-based, researched data, supporting positive feeding experiences for infants and their families.
Prior to joining Dr. Brown’s Medical in 2016, Lisa worked as a Speech Pathologist and Developmental Care Specialist for over 25 years in both Level 3 and 4 NICUs in the Chicago, IL area. Her certifications include Newborn Individualized Developmental Care Assessment Program (NIDCAP), Developmental Care Designation (NANN), Infant Massage Instructor, and Certified Lactation Specialist. She is also a Certified Neonatal Therapist and a member of the National Association of Neonatal Therapists. In addition, Lisa was one of the founding members of the Neonatal Therapy National Certification Board that facilitated the sole certification for neonatal therapists.
Lisa received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and Master’s at Indiana University. She is highly experienced with presentations at National conferences; created and presented webinars for NICU families and developed a 2-day course for Education Resources, Inc on Developmental Care in the NICU.
Lisa lives in Northwest Arkansas and while not absorbing all she can about infant feeding, she enjoys hiking, cooking healthy meals, and reading great books!
Understanding the Infant-Driven Feeding® Program
Lisa Kleinz explains that the Infant-Driven Feeding® (IDF®) Program, developed by Dr. Brown’s Medical, is much more than a feeding protocol—it’s a comprehensive, evidence-based, family-centered developmental care program designed to create positive feeding experiences for babies and their families from the very beginning of the NICU journey. Built on research and developmental care principles, the IDF® Program provides standardized education, shared language, and consistent assessment tools that help every member of the NICU care team approach feeding with the same philosophy, terminology, and evidence-based practices.
Rather than measuring success by how much a baby consumes, the IDF® Program teaches clinicians and families to recognize and respond to each infant’s unique readiness cues, feeding quality, and communication. Lisa explains that feeding begins long before the first bottle or breastfeeding session. It starts with meaningful interactions such as therapeutic touch, colostrum care, skin-to-skin contact, recognizing behavioral cues, and creating positive sensory experiences that support both infant development and the parent-infant relationship. By intentionally educating and including parents from day one, the IDF® Program empowers families to become confident caregivers while promoting safer, developmentally appropriate feeding practices that extend well beyond NICU discharge.
Lisa also emphasizes that the philosophy behind the IDF® Program extends far beyond nutrition. Feeding becomes an opportunity to build trust, strengthen attachment, and foster lifelong relationships between babies and their caregivers. Grounded in developmental care theory, the program recognizes that infants are constantly communicating their needs through their behaviors and cues. Nurses, therapists, physicians, and parents all learn to observe, interpret, and respond to those cues using a shared language and consistent approach. This intentional partnership not only creates more positive feeding experiences but also helps parents feel informed, included, and empowered as essential members of their baby’s care team—building confidence that continues from the NICU to home.
Liz’s Story: From Fear and Uncertainty to Confidence and Connection
When Liz Barker unexpectedly delivered her daughter Lucy at just 28 weeks’ gestation due to severe preeclampsia, she believed breastfeeding would simply become another heartbreaking loss in an already traumatic NICU journey. Instead, within Lucy’s first days of life, one nurse introduced her to the Infant-Driven Feeding® Program and began intentionally teaching her how she could actively participate in her daughter’s care from the very beginning. Although Liz initially questioned whether any of it would be possible, those early moments—including providing colostrum to Lucy on a small swab—became the first time she felt she had done something positive for her daughter after feeling that her body had failed her.
As Lucy grew, Liz wasn’t simply taught how to feed her baby—she was taught how to understand her. By learning Lucy’s unique behavioral cues, stress signals, readiness signs, and communication, Liz gradually transformed from feeling like an observer standing beside an incubator into an active, informed member of her daughter’s care team. Understanding Lucy’s cues helped her feel safer holding her for the first time, participating in daily care, and eventually recognizing how Lucy communicated her needs both in the NICU and after discharge. Rather than watching clinicians care for her baby, Liz describes being intentionally coached through every step, allowing her confidence to grow alongside Lucy’s development.
One of the most meaningful aspects of Liz’s experience was the consistency she encountered throughout her NICU stay. Because every clinician used the same Infant-Driven Feeding® language and philosophy, she received consistent education regardless of which nurse or provider was caring for Lucy. That shared language allowed Liz to understand what was happening, what milestones came next, and how she could continue participating in Lucy’s care—even when she couldn’t be physically present in the NICU. Instead of feeling like a visitor waiting for updates, she felt like an essential member of her daughter’s healthcare team.
Liz also shares how difficult it was to shift her mindset away from measuring success by ounces consumed and instead focus on creating positive feeding experiences. Through the guidance of her care team, she learned that successful feeding was not defined by volume alone, but by nurturing connection, following Lucy’s cues, and allowing every feeding interaction—whether breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, or simply practicing at the breast—to become a meaningful opportunity for bonding and learning. That change in perspective reduced anxiety, strengthened her relationship with Lucy, and ultimately allowed breastfeeding to develop naturally over time.
Today, Lucy is a thriving, adventurous seven-year-old who loves trying new foods and embracing new experiences. Liz reflects with gratitude that after leaving the NICU, Lucy transitioned to exclusive breastfeeding within the first month at home and continued breastfeeding until she was two years old—the longest breastfeeding journey of any of her four children. While every NICU journey is unique, Liz credits the Infant-Driven Feeding® Program, her nurse’s intentional teaching, and a family-centered NICU culture with helping her build the confidence and skills that shaped not only Lucy’s feeding journey but their relationship long after discharge. Lisa reinforces Liz’s experience by sharing the growing body of research demonstrating improvements in breastfeeding success, parent confidence and satisfaction, safer feeding practices, reduced length of stay, reduced time to full oral feedings, and fewer referrals for speech and occupational therapy among hospitals implementing the Infant-Driven Feeding® Program.
The Growing Body of Evidence Supporting the Infant-Driven Feeding® (IDF®) Program
Liz’s experience is not simply one remarkable story—it reflects what a growing body of research is demonstrating. As Lisa explains, hospitals implementing the Infant-Driven Feeding® (IDF®) Program are reporting measurable improvements in both clinical and family-centered outcomes. Published quality improvement initiatives and research have shown increased breastfeeding rates during hospitalization and after discharge, greater parent confidence and satisfaction, improved nurse satisfaction, safer and more developmentally appropriate feeding practices, reduced time to full oral feedings, shorter hospital stays, and associated cost savings. More recently, emerging evidence has also demonstrated fewer referrals for speech and occupational therapy, suggesting that the benefits of the IDF® Program may extend well beyond the NICU stay.
Perhaps most importantly, the research reinforces exactly what Liz described throughout this episode: when parents are intentionally educated, included, and empowered to recognize and respond to their baby’s unique cues, they become confident caregivers. Positive feeding experiences build stronger parent-infant relationships, support breastfeeding success, and foster confidence that continues long after families leave the NICU. Lucy’s journey—from a 28-week premature infant to exclusively breastfeeding after discharge and continuing until two years of age—beautifully illustrates how investing in parents from the very beginning can create lasting benefits for both babies and families.
Research Articles
| Year | APA Citation | Key Findings |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Le, Q., Tao, J., Lan, H., Wu, L.-F., Wang, L., & Wang, H.-P. (2025). Effects of Infant-Driven Feeding on feeding outcomes and growth in preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1097/JPN.0000000000000897 | Infants receiving IDF achieved full oral feeding sooner, had shorter NG tube duration, shorter hospital stays, improved oral feeding efficiency, fewer feeding-related adverse events (vomiting, desaturation, choking), and maintained appropriate growth. |
| 2025 | Ghorbani, S., et al. (2025). Infant-driven versus practitioner-driven feeding of preterm infants: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. American Journal of Perinatology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2783-2468 | Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found infant-driven feeding resulted in infants reaching full oral feeds approximately 5 days earlier than practitioner-driven feeding. Authors concluded there is moderate-certainty evidence favoring infant-driven feeding approaches. |
| 2023 | Ramdas, D., Drury, N., Jordan, C., Panda, S., & Singh, A. P. (2023). Effects of Infant Driven Feeding Program on provision of breast milk in very low birth weight infants. Breastfeeding Medicine, 18(4), 272–278. https://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2022.0212 | Infants in the IDF® Program were significantly more likely to breastfeed at their first oral feeding attempt, mothers were more likely to complete a protected breastfeeding period, and NG tubes were removed earlier. Length of stay and breast milk at discharge were similar between groups. |
| 2019 | Settle, M., & Francis, K. (2019). Does the Infant-Driven Feeding Method positively impact preterm infant feeding outcomes? Advances in Neonatal Care, 19(1), 51–55. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANC.0000000000000577 | Comprehensive review of the available IDF® literature. Early quality improvement projects suggested reduced length of stay and earlier achievement of oral feeding, while noting the need for additional high-quality prospective studies. |
Dr. Brown’s Medical
Closing
I want to sincerely thank Lisa Kleinz and Liz Barker for joining me on the podcast.
Liz’s story is a powerful reminder of what can happen when parents are intentionally educated, included, and empowered from the very beginning of their baby’s NICU journey. Through the Infant-Driven Feeding® Program, she learned to recognize Lucy’s cues, became an active partner in her daughter’s care, and achieved something she never thought would be possible—a successful breastfeeding journey that continued for two years after leaving the NICU. While Liz’s experience is deeply personal, it is far from unique. As Lisa shared, a growing body of research and published quality improvement initiatives continue to demonstrate that hospitals implementing the Infant-Driven Feeding® Program are seeing meaningful improvements, including increased breastfeeding success, greater parent confidence and satisfaction, positive feeding experiences, and outcomes that extend well beyond a baby’s NICU stay.
I also want to thank Dr. Brown’s Medical for their continued commitment to supporting NICU families and advancing family-centered care. The Infant-Driven Feeding® Program is about so much more than feeding—it’s about creating a culture where parents are intentionally educated, included, and trusted as essential members of their baby’s care team from day one. When we empower parents with the knowledge and confidence to understand their baby’s unique cues, we don’t just improve feeding experiences—we strengthen families and help build a foundation that lasts long after discharge.
Until next time, remember: when we intentionally empower parents from the very beginning, we don’t just change the NICU experience—we help shape a family’s story for years to come.
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