Neonatal Intensive Care News and Research

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Endothelin gene expression linked to vision loss in premature babies

A gene known to play a major role in constricting blood vessels also appears to be a major player in the aberrant blood vessel growth that can destroy the vision of premature babies.

11 Nov 2014

Maternal nutrition before conception important to improve offspring’s health, say researchers

Researchers from the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, believe the key to making future generations healthier could lie before the mother becomes pregnant.

21 Oct 2014

New book offers advice on how to meet contraceptive needs of women with chronic medical problems

Women with chronic medical conditions can be at higher risk for complications during pregnancy and therefore require specialized preconception and contraceptive care and counseling. However, many medical providers are hesitant to prescribe contraception to these women due to concerns about the safety of various contraceptives with co-existing medical disorders.

16 Oct 2014

SSEF protocol reduces incidence of NEC or death in infants with extremely low birth weight

A standardized slow enteral feeding (SSEF) protocol significantly reduces the incidence of necrotizing enterocoltis (NEC), or death of intestinal tissue, and death in infants with extremely low birth weight, according to a new study.

15 Oct 2014

Single-family room environment can optimize care for preterm infants

The prevalence of preterm birth - the birth of an infant prior to 37 weeks of pregnancy - is a significant health problem that has increased over the past two decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, preterm birth affects nearly 500,000 babies each year, or one of every eight born in the U.S. While medical care has improved survival rates for preterm infants, questions remain about ways to positively impact the neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants.

23 Sep 2014

Improvements in NICU nursing care could boost health outcomes for underweight black infants

The health outcomes and quality of care for underweight black infants could greatly improve with more nurses on staff at hospitals with higher concentrations of black patients, according to a new study co-led by a Rutgers researcher.

22 Sep 2014

UVA Center for Telehealth receives 2014 Governor's Technology Award

The University of Virginia Center for Telehealth received a 2014 Governor's Technology Award for making it easier to access high-quality care and health education for patients across Virginia.

21 Sep 2014

Hospitals see sharp declines in rates of CLABSIs and ventilator-associated pneumonias

Hospitals across the country have seen sharp declines in rates of central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs) and ventilator-associated pneumonias (VAPs) among critically ill neonates and children, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.

9 Sep 2014

MedStar Washington Hospital Center celebrates major safety milestone

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at MedStar Washington Hospital Center recently celebrated a major safety milestone: two years without a single Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) in its smallest and most vulnerable babies.

8 Sep 2014

Study could lead to improvements in outcomes for women with triple-negative breast cancer

William M. Sikov, a medical oncologist in the Breast Health Center and associate director for clinical research in the Program in Women's Oncology at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, served as study chair and lead author for a recently-published major national study that could lead to improvements in outcomes for women with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that disproportionately affects younger women.

8 Sep 2014

Research roundup: Benefits of hip surgery; preventing surgical infections; assessing ACOs' predecessors

Surgical treatment of hip fractures can achieve better survival and functional outcomes than nonoperative treatment, but less is known about its economic benefits. ... We estimated the effects of surgical treatment for displaced hip fractures through a Markov cohort analysis of patients 65 years and older. ... Estimated average lifetime societal benefits per patient exceeded the direct medical costs of hip fracture surgery by $65,000 to $68,000 for displaced hip fractures. With the exception of the assumption of nursing home use, the sensitivity analyses show that surgery produces positive net societal savings (Gu, Koenig, Mather and Tongue, 8/5).

30 Aug 2014

Human milk diet protects intestines and supports growth of premature infants

For premature infants, adequate growth while in the neonatal intensive care unit is an indicator of better long-term health and developmental outcomes.

18 Aug 2014

Study: 9/11 dust cloud linked to pregnancy issues

Pregnant women living near the World Trade Center during 9/11 experienced higher-than-normal negative birth outcomes, according to a new working paper by Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

16 Aug 2014

Bacteria may depend more on gastrointestinal age than on environmental factors in babies

Scientists believe babies are born with digestive systems containing few or no bacteria. Their guts then quickly become colonized by microbes — good and bad — as they nurse or take bottles, receive medication and even as they are passed from one adoring relative to another.

12 Aug 2014

Australia introducing breakthrough cerebral palsy treatment

"If Id had a stroke, I wouldn't be happy waiting two years for a diagnosis and treatment, by which time the damage would have become permanent" says Professor Nadia Badawi, Macquarie Group Foundation Chair of cerebral palsy and Head of Research with Cerebral Palsy Alliance "Well that's what we accept with children with cerebral palsy when early intervention in infancy could re-shape their brains, for example using what's called a motor learning approach, where we train the brain to learn new movements."

11 Aug 2014

University of Chicago adds six new members to governing Board of Trustees

The University of Chicago Medical Center added six new members to its governing Board of Trustees, and named a new president of the medical staff.

8 Aug 2014

Study focuses on benefits of human milk for sick newborns

Human milk is infant food, but for sick, hospitalized babies, it's also medicine. That's the central premise of a series of articles in a neonatal nursing journal's special issue focused on human milk for sick newborns.

7 Aug 2014

Mother singing to her preterm infant while providing kangaroo care may see benefits in health

A mother who sings to her preterm infant while providing 'kangaroo care,' or holding with direct skin-to-skin contact, may see improvements in both her child's and her own health.

5 Aug 2014

New developmental music therapy class helps babies to reach their full potential

Lisa Gracey shares a puppet of an orange bear with 11-month-old son Duke, singing 'Old MacDonald had a farm,' encouraging him to be engaged in his music therapy class. He grabs at the soft material and bounces in excitement.

29 Jul 2014

Study validates telemedicine approach to ROP screening

Trained non-physician evaluators who studied retinal images transmitted to computer screens at a remote central reading center successfully identified newborn infants likely to require a specialized medical evaluation for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of treatable blindness.

28 Jun 2014