Neonatal/Perinatology

Trained volunteer cuddlers provide the magic of human touch to help preemies and convalescing newborns thrive.

An analysis of about 1590 stock photographs of sleeping babies found that infants often are not portrayed in a way that is consistent with American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines on infant sleep safety.

For Contemporary Pediatrics, Dr Bobby Lazzara looks at an observational study published in PLoS Medicine that examined full term infant mortality and what the findings suggest pediatricians need to be doing.

A meta-analysis of 12 studies of the risk of death after a brief resolved unexplained event (BRUE) found that such an event does not increase an infant’s risk of dying during his or her first year. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) introduced BRUE, a sudden alteration in an infant’s breathing, color, tone, or responsiveness, as a replacement for “apparent life-threatening event” (ALTE) in a 2016 clinical practice guideline.

Outpatient pediatric providers have an essential role in the ongoing monitoring and care of a child with failure to thrive (FTT). Here’s how routine growth assessments help to identify FTT and determine effective multidisciplinary treatment.

For Contemporary Pediatrics, Dr Bobby Lazzara discusses a case control study published in Pediatrics that looked at whether associations existed between mother receiving influenza and/or Tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy and infant hospitalization or death occurring in the first 6 months of life.

For Winter Berry, DO, addressing diaper need in urban Syracuse was just the start of her child advocacy work.

Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) is highly sensitive and specific for diagnosing urinary tract infections (UTIs), according to a study in febrile children aged up to 24 months.

Breastfeeding for a minimum of 2 months has a significant protective effect against sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), almost halving the risk of its occurrence.

Parental refusals of protocols in the newborn nursery do happen. Providers need to know how to respond to parents with patient-centered yet medically safe care for their newborns.

Pediatricians need to stay committed to following those infants with possible exposure to Zika to understand the effects of Zika infection and ensure appropriate care and services.

For Contemporary Pediatrics, Dr Bobby Lazzara discusses a recent prospective birth cohort study published in Pediatrics that looked at different feeding methods for infants and whether the methods had any link to asthma.

Being exposed to recordings of their mothers’ voices limited pain preterm infants experienced while undergoing heel lance procedures, according to a study conducted in an Italian neonatal intensive care unit.

A study of the accuracy of a technology for assessing jaundice in outpatient neonates based on analysis of digital images demonstrated that this smartphone application (app) may be useful for screening newborns for jaundice.

New research looks at the role of maternal-placental-fetal interaction on cognitive function and disease.

There are challenges to defining normal or healthy levels of vitamin D. The question, therefore, is whether to recommend vitamin D supplementation for breastfeeding mothers, their breastfed infants, or both.

A new study detailing the impact of early infection, antibiotics, and vaccines in preterm infants also offers hope that new vaccine therapies could help decrease sepsis and long-term damage in this vulnerable population.

Infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) treated with supportive nonpharmacologic interventions have a substantially shorter hospital stay and are less likely to be treated with morphine, a new study shows.

Previous studies conducted in animals and in humans have suggested that DHA might be helpful in reducing the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). However, the results of a very recent study demonstrated that the supplementation of an emulsion containing DHA did not reduce the risk of preterm infants developing BPD compared with infants who received a control emulsion without DHA.

Bacteremia is now a rare event in previously healthy children aged 3 to 36 months because of the introduction of routine immunization with the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV).

A study in 217 premature infants with HPS showed that premature infants are likely to present with HPS at an older age than are term infants with this condition.

A large retrospective study of how infants with fever without a cause are evaluated found that physicians are selective in deciding which of these babies will have blood, urine, or cerebral spinal fluid cultures.

A mother brings her healthy 6-month-old girl to the outpatient clinic with disseminated, asymptomatic, golden-brown bumps that occasionally become red and swollen.

Superficial, relatively thin infantile hemangiomas (IHs) responded to several months of treatment with topical timolol maleate in a recent trial, suggesting that this treatment is an alternative to oral propranolol for selected IHs.