Background - The role I am investigating for the purpose of this report is that of the mother to the Technology Dependent (TD) infant in the Waikato DHB region who demographic statistics inform us is likely to be of European or Maori ethnicity. Whilst TD infants were historically cared for in hospital, a shift in healthcare policy transferred the responsibility of care to family caregivers in the home – from the public arena to the private.

Aim – The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive literature review on mothering the TD infant living at home to identify what support can truly make a difference.

Method - The study reviews the primary research, relating to the experience of mothering the TD infant, using a theoretical lens informed by critical social theory and feminism. It was conducted via keyboard searches using various electronic databases. The articles were examined for commonality

Conclusion - This inquiry clearly demonstrates that there is inadequate societal support for TD infants and that the responsibility for caregiving provision is inequitable, as the extraordinary demands of these children are placed almost entirely on the mother. The commonalities extracted from the data were grouped into four themes: invisibility/visibility, absolute involvement, burden of care, and agency and mothering. Care delivery appropriate to each individual family will improve outcomes for the infant, caregiver and family.