Each year in September, we celebrate International Neonatal Therapy Week by recognizing clinicians who are advancing neonatal care around the world. This year, we are proud to highlight Shantel Stewart, a registered physiotherapist from Jamaica and one of the Neonatal Therapy Certification International Scholarship recipients.
Shantel recently became the first Certified Neonatal Therapist (CNT®) in Jamaica, marking an important milestone not only in her own professional journey but also in the continued growth of neonatal therapy practice in her country.
Her journey to certification reflects dedication, perseverance, and a deep commitment to improving care for the smallest and most vulnerable patients and their families.
A Passion for Caring for Infants and Families
Shantel is a registered physiotherapist in Jamaica and currently works at Black River Hospital, where she has spent much of her career working in the Special Care Nursery and pediatric services.
For Shantel, one of the most rewarding aspects of neonatal therapy is witnessing the incredible resilience of the infants and families she serves.
“It has been a rewarding experience over the years, especially knowing that you have given therapy to neonates while they were so fragile and then seeing them grow up when they return to clinic for their checkup.”
These experiences have reinforced her passion for neonatal care and motivated her to continue expanding her knowledge and expertise in this specialized field.
Becoming a Certified Neonatal Therapist
Preparing for the CNT examination required significant dedication, perseverance, and sacrifice.
“I remember using my lunch hour at work and staying up late at night to revise in preparation for the exam,” Shantel shares. “It was a lot of information and journals to read and study.”
Balancing professional responsibilities, family, motherhood, and studying proved to be one of the greatest challenges throughout her certification journey.
Adding another layer of difficulty, Shantel was also preparing to sit for the CNT exam while Jamaica was impacted by Hurricane Melissa.
“The hurricane made an already challenging time even more difficult in every way,” Shantel shares. “We are still picking up the pieces.”
Despite these challenges, Shantel remained committed to achieving her goal. Her determination and resilience carried her through the process, and the moment she received her exam results was incredibly meaningful.
“I was overjoyed and relieved to learn that I had passed the CNT exam.”
The Impact of the International Scholarship
Receiving the International Scholarship played a significant role in making certification possible for Shantel.
“The scholarship removed the financial constraints to study. This included the cost for certification as well as examination fees.”
Having financial support allowed her to focus more fully on preparing for the exam.
“Knowing the funding was secured allowed me to focus more on my studies without having to be anxious about where the money would be coming from to achieve the same goal.”
For clinicians around the world, opportunities like the International Scholarship help make specialty certification more accessible, allowing more professionals to validate the specialized knowledge and experience that working in the NICU requires.
Shantel’s advice to future scholarship recipients considering CNT certification is simple: “Just do it.”
Growing Neonatal Therapy in Jamaica
Neonatal therapy is an evolving specialty in Jamaica, with increasing recognition of the importance of early intervention for premature and high-risk infants.
“There has been a growing recognition of the importance of early stimulation for high-risk and premature infants,” Shantel explains. “Physiotherapists and speech-language pathologists are the professionals who have been instrumental in following up these high-risk patients.”
As Jamaica’s first Certified Neonatal Therapist, Shantel hopes to contribute to the continued development and expansion of neonatal therapy services throughout the country.
She hopes to see improvements in neonatal intensive care, including increased NICU bed availability, greater access to ventilators, and more trained healthcare professionals.
Beyond hospital-based care, Shantel also hopes families will have earlier access to developmental therapy during their NICU journey and that neonatal therapy services will continue to expand into rural and underserved communities.
“Expanding neonatal therapy services in these areas will help reduce the need for families to travel long distances to access specialized care.”
Looking Toward the Future of Neonatal Therapy
When asked what excites her most about the future of neonatal therapy, Shantel highlights the growing recognition of the importance of early intervention.
“The growing recognition of the critical role early intervention plays in the long-term outcomes for this group of patients and their families” is what inspires her most.
Looking ahead, she hopes neonatal care continues to evolve globally so that every infant—regardless of where they are born—has access to specialized care.
“I hope neonatal care will continue to evolve globally in such a way that every hospital, even in rural areas, will have a NICU and a neonatal therapist so that neonates who really need this type of specialist care will be able to access it.”
What Being a Certified Neonatal Therapist Means
For Shantel, being a CNT represents more than a professional credential—it represents a lifelong commitment to infants and families.
“Being a CNT means I’m committing to providing the best standard of specialized and evidence-based care to support better outcomes in every family I will come across.”
As we celebrate International Neonatal Therapy Week, we congratulate Shantel on this incredible achievement and thank her for her dedication to advancing neonatal therapy in Jamaica and beyond.
Her journey is a powerful reminder of the impact that education, perseverance, and global collaboration can have on improving outcomes for infants and families around the world.