HOW BABIES’ BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IS SHAPED BY TOUCH
For newborns, skin-to-skin contact with parents and caregivers helps shape how their brains respond to touch, a sense necessary for social and emotional connections. A lot of previous research has linked skin-to-skin touch with developmental benefits for both premature and full-term babies, ranging from improved growth and sleep to better motor development. Research has also […]
UNDER STRESS, NEWBORN BABIES SHOW GREATER BRAIN RESPONSE TO PAIN
When newborn babies are under stress, their brains show a heightened response to pain, a new study has found. However, you’d never know it from the way those infants act. The findings reported in Current Biology on November 30 show that stress leads to an apparent disconnect between babies’ brain activity and their behavior. “When […]
SOUND EXPOSURE FOR PREMATURE BABIES IN NICUs
Premature babies often spend the first several weeks of life in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), where, ideally, they are protected from too much noise stimulation. However, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that preemies may be exposed to noise levels higher than those deemed safe by the American […]
HOW BABIES’ BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IS SHAPED BY TOUCH
For newborns, skin-to-skin contact with parents and caregivers helps shape how their brains respond to touch, a sense necessary for social and emotional connections. A lot of previous research has linked skin-to-skin touch with developmental benefits for both premature and full-term babies, ranging from improved growth and sleep to better motor development. Research has also […]
Premature Babies in NICUs at Risk from Tobacco Toxins Brought in on the Clothes and Skin
A new study warns that premature babies in intensive care are being exposed to harmful toxins from tobacco brought in on the clothes and skin of smokers. In spite of being in clean and sterile rooms, vulnerable newborns in incubators are still being exposed to thirdhand smoke residue linked to heart and lung diseases. These […]
Kangaroo Care Benefits Preemies — Results 20 Years Later
A new study reveals that skin-to-skin are brings both immediate and longterm benefits for preemies compared to those who receive traditional incubator care alone. With Kangaroo Care, a premature baby is held against parents’ chest, skin-to-skin, as soon as possible after birth and for a prolonged period of time. This is extremely beneficial for newborns […]
WORLD PREMATURE BABY DAY—NOVEMBER 17
Premature Babies Need a Special Kind of Touch We know how important it is to hold our babies close, right from the start. We put a lot of planning into those first few hours and weeks, arranging to avoid the interruptions that would unnecessarily deprive our babies of those precious moments of bonding time. When […]
Music Therapy Helps Preemie Babies Thrive
Music therapy analysis, of over a dozen clinical trials, found that music therapy helped stabilize premature newborns’ breathing rate during their time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). For the most part, music therapy involved mothers singing to their babies (though some studies used recordings of mom’s voice). And that’s key, the researchers said. […]
A NICU is Using Mothers’ Voices To Help Babies
Therapists at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital are using mothers’ voices to care for premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. The babies are born several weeks premature in many cases, so music therapists simulate the sounds a baby would hear in the womb during the third trimester. Nurses play the infants personalized playlists at […]
Brain, Interrupted: Premature Babies Show Lack Of Interest In Others, A Trait Linked To Autism
Premature babies who are born before 37 weeks tend to face many complications during their first year of life. Some problems, like breathing issues, are apparent at birth, while others like developmental delays can appear later in life. A study published in the journal Infancy found premature babies with atypical social communication may be more […]