Neonatal/Perinatology

Disadvantaged mothers who receive regular home visits by nurses during pregnancy and through their child’s second birthday are less likely to die from all-cause mortality and their children are less likely to die from preventable causes than their counterparts who do not have such visits.

Distinguishing between gastroesophageal reflux (GER) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in infants is critical to providing appropriate treatment and avoiding overclassifying infants with GERD that leads to overtesting and overtreatment.

A “broader perspective” and a “comprehensive multidimensional assessment” are necessary to establish a causal link between intrapartum hypoxic events and neonatal encephalopathy, according to the latest report from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Task Force on Neonatal Encephalopathy.

Obstetricians, gynecologists, and pediatricians joined forces to issue a new task force report on identifying the causes of newborn brain injuries. In doing so, they hope to unearth prevention strategies for neonatal encephalopathy, cerebral palsy, and other neurologic problems.

The interim final rule on infant formula quality and nutrition announced recently by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will set standards going forward.

Only 12% of uninsured parents take breastfeeding classes, according to a new poll.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently published an interim final rule, revising its infant formula regulations to help ensure the quality of these manufactured foods.

Prophylactic use of Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 during the first 3 months of life significantly reduces colic, regurgitation, and constipation, according to a recent study.

Questions now address medical ethics regarding risk in clinical care versus risk in research.

Sickle cell trait (SCT) is the most common genetic order in the United States, affecting 5% to 6% of Hispanics, 10% of persons of African origin, 2% of Asians, and 1% of northern Greeks. Worldwide, 5.5 million people are estimated to carry SCT, and the World Health Organization estimates that in 2008, 3% of pregnant women were carriers. Despite this prevalence, most SCT carriers are unaware they carry the trait.

A new clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs says that many medicines are safe to use for breastfeeding mothers, but it cautions that the risk for babies of exposure to any drug through breast milk must be evaluated for both the importance of the medication to the mother and the benefits of breastfeeding for the infant.

The American Thoracic Society has published new guidelines on the classification, diagnosis, and management of childhood interstitial lung disease (chILD), focusing on neonates and infants aged younger than 2 years.

A simple car seat insert that maintains a baby’s head in a neutral position without its chin touching its chest reduces the severity of hypoxic events while the infant is in the car seat, but does not reduce the overall number of hypoxic events, a new study finds.

Knowing what to look for on cranial computed tomography scans and magnetic resonance imaging can help identify and time abusive head trauma (AHT) in infants, thus facilitating identification and exclusion of potential perpetrators.

Deceased-donor partial liver transplantation now has outcomes in infants and small children that are comparable to those achieved with whole organ transplantation. Increased confidence in this procedure could increase the pediatric organ pool dramatically, thereby decreasing the high waitlist mortality of this age group.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is beginning its new effort to stimulate research on treatments for neonates in the wake of last year’s legislation, the FDA Safety and Innovation Act.

Preliminary data from a randomized, double-blind trial reveal that giving preterm babies daily supplementation of 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D reduces vitamin insufficiency that may lead to softening and weakening of their bones.

Physicians’ diagnoses of probable gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in infants who cry and spit up excessively often lead them to overmedicate healthy babies, according to new research.

The beta-blocker propranolol has been shown to clear or mostly clear infant hemangiomas after 6 months of treatment, according to preliminary findings from a clinical trial presented at the meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in Miami Beach, Florida.

A new technique facilitates collection of infant urine samples. Spanish investigators reported a technique for obtaining a midstream clean urine sample in newborns in a median time of 45 seconds.

You care called to the emergency department to evaluate a 4-month old girl with multiple areas of purpura, including a distinctive bruise on the later aspect of the left thigh. The child's mother states that she noticed these lesions after picking up the infant from her biologic father, whose was watching the child alone. No trauma history is reported. The child has been otherwise in good health, with no signs of infection.

The CDC has released a report on the effect of assisted reproductive technology on multiple births, low birth weight, and preterm weight.

Babies who are born preterm or small for gestational age are at increased risk for developingesophagitis early in life, according to a recent study of the association between the risk for esophagitis and birth history.

Babies as young as 2 months at increased risk for meningococcal disease should be immunized with a new combination meningitis vaccine.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautions that SimplyThick, a brand of thickening agent added to breast milk or formula for premature babies, has been linked to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in a full-term infant.

A study in Finland found that infants who had contact with dogs in their first year showed fewer respiratory tract symptoms or infections.

Functional foods for post-partum mothers include galactagogues to enhance breast feeding and teas to soothe colic.

The ophthalmologist was not able to rule abuse in or out based on his examination because of the number of retinal hemorrhages seen.