Newborn News and Research

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Comprehensive prenatal care can decrease rates of low birth weights

Comprehensive prenatal care can decrease the rate of low birth weights, according to a study led by Dr. Yasmin Neggers, a University of Alabama researcher and professor of human nutrition and hospitality management.

25 Sep 2012

More money, focus needed to reach maternal, child health MDGs

Though the global community has "made incredible inroads" on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), "the majority of developing countries are still expected to fall short of the MDG targets for reducing maternal and child mortality by 2015," Carole Presern, director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

24 Sep 2012

Frontline health workers essential for newborn survival

"An infant's first moments and the twenty-eight days that follow are the most precarious, and her risk of death is never higher," but "[s]imple and inexpensive techniques, ... such as drying her, clearing her airway, keeping her warm or using a simple ventilation device to stimulate her breathing, can help," and frontline health workers "deliver these lifesaving techniques."

24 Sep 2012

Music underlies the ability to acquire language

Contrary to the prevailing theories that music and language are cognitively separate or that music is a byproduct of language, theorists at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) advocate that music underlies the ability to acquire language.

19 Sep 2012

Two abnormalities associated with cystic fibrosis-related diabetes

A new University of Iowa study suggests there are two root causes of a type of diabetes associated with cystic fibrosis (CF). The findings, which already have sparked a clinical trial, may guide development of new treatments or even help prevent diabetes in patients with CF.

18 Sep 2012

Parents of sickle cell babies undercounseled

Parents of newborns with the sickle cell anemia trait are significantly less likely to receive genetic counseling than those of babies who are cystic fibrosis carriers, say researchers.

17 Sep 2012

World Bank, Bangladeshi government sign multi-donor trust fund agreement for country's health sector

"On Wednesday, the World Bank and the Bangladeshi government signed a Multi-Donor Trust Fund Grant Agreement" under which "$280 million coming from the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Sweden will go to the Bangladesh Health Sector Development Program, which aims to improve the health status of people in Bangladesh, particularly women, children and the marginalized," the Devex "Development Newswire" reports.

15 Sep 2012

New study analyses effects of passive smoking during pregnancy on newborns

A new study shows that newborns that have been exposed to nicotine from both active and passive smoking mothers show poor physiological, sensory, motor and attention responses.

15 Sep 2012

‘Rooming in’ benefits both mother and baby: New review

"Rooming in," keeping mother and her newborn in the same room 24/7 to encourage breastfeeding has been a popular initiative of The WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Hospital. A new review from The Cochrane Library finds some evidence that it does support breastfeeding, at least in the short term.

15 Sep 2012

Progress on child survival rate since 2000

The pace of reducing child deaths has accelerated sharply since 2000, according to new data released by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the UN Population Division.

14 Sep 2012

Maternal-fetal Chagas disease transmission still problematic

The incidence of Chagas disease, otherwise known as Trypanosoma cruzi infection, is still high in pregnant women in Bolivia, researchers say.

14 Sep 2012

Parents of infants with cystic fibrosis carriers more likely to receive genetic counseling

Parents of newborns with the sickle cell anemia trait were less likely to receive genetic counseling than parents whose babies are cystic fibrosis carriers, a new study from the University of Michigan shows.

12 Sep 2012

New model reveals how immune system functions under conditions of neutropenia

Cancer chemotherapy can be a life-saver, but it is fraught with severe side effects, among them an increased risk of infection. Until now, the major criterion for assessing this risk has been the blood cell count: if the number of white blood cells falls below a critical threshold, the risk of infection is thought to be high.

12 Sep 2012

U of I microbial engineer synthesizes 2-fucosyllactose to protect babies from pathogens

A University of Illinois microbial engineer has synthesized a sugar in human milk that is thought to protect babies from pathogens. That's important because 2FL, the shorthand scientists use to describe this human milk oligosaccharide (HMO), has not been added to infant formula because HMOs are incredibly expensive.

11 Sep 2012

Tight blood sugar control does not benefit pediatric patients undergoing heart surgery

Although some studies have portrayed tight blood sugar control as a potential means of lowering infection rates in critically ill adults, a new study-led by principal investigator Michael Agus, MD, director of the Medicine Critical Care Program at Boston Children's Hospital-found no indication that the approach benefits pediatric patients undergoing heart surgery.

10 Sep 2012

Maternal posttraumatic stress, depression and anxiety common after prenatal diagnosis of CHD

Heart defects are the most common form of congenital malformations affecting newborns. Infants who were prenatally diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD) are more stable and have better outcomes than infants who were diagnosed after birth. Diagnosing CHD in a fetus also allows mothers to educate themselves on heart malformations, consider their options, and potentially plan for intervention or surgery after birth.

7 Sep 2012

Boston researchers develop neonatal mouse model of sepsis

Sepsis, or bacterial infection of the bloodstream, is a grave, hard-to-diagnose threat in premature newborns in the NICU. Even when it's detected and treated with antibiotics, its inflammatory effects can harm fragile babies' development. Now, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have modeled the effects of sepsis on the unique newborn immune system, using mice.

7 Sep 2012

Lack of Atoh1 master gene can lead to sudden infant death syndrome

When mice are born lacking the master gene Atoh1, none breathe well and all die in the newborn period. Why and how this occurs could provide new answers about sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), but the solution has remained elusive until now.

7 Sep 2012

Gates blog examines proposed framework to scale up maternal, newborn health interventions

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Gary Darmstadt, head of the Family Health Division at the foundation; Wolfgang Munar, senior program officer in the Family Health Division; and Amie Newman, a communications officer and editor of the blog, highlight a recently published paper, "A model for scale up of family health innovations in low-income settings: a mixed methods study," that proposes a framework to scale up successful maternal and newborn health interventions in order to "reach more communities and improve the health of many more people."

1 Sep 2012

Healthy diets during infancy and early childhood can prevent obesity in future

Rats born to mothers fed high-fat diets but who get normal levels of fat in their diets right after birth avoid obesity and its related disorders as adults, according to new Johns Hopkins research.

31 Aug 2012