The Tiniest Preemies May Struggle with School and Adult Life
Although extremely preterm birth is no longer the death sentence it once was, many of the tiniest preemies still struggle in school and have a harder time as adults, two new studies suggest. One study focused on the most vulnerable subset of preemies: those born at no more than 28 weeks gestation. More than half […]
Study Shows Pain Management in Premature Infants Linked to Impaired Brain Development
Morphine is commonly used to manage premature babies’ pain. It is linked to a negative condition in the brain; decreased growth in the cerebellum, which results in both physical and mental impairments. A study by the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Canada with the University of British Columbia showed the connection. The alternatives—using another […]
Infant Apnea Prevention Technology Shown Effective in Clinical Trial
Scientists and clinicians at UMass Medical School, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown in a clinical trial that a new vibration-based prevention technology tested in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) reduces apneic events and improves critical clinical parameters in prematurely born infants. In the […]
Pain is Overlooked in Premature Infants
Premature infants receiving intensive care are exposed to a great deal of pain, and this pain causes damage to the child. In spite of this, half of the infants admitted to neonatal intensive units will not receive any pain relief, according to a new European study published today in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Mats Eriksson, […]
Premature Babies More Likely to Have Emotional Problems as Adults
Infants born at very low weight or more than five weeks early are more likely to become introverted. According to a new study, published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, children who were born very prematurely or were very underweight at birth are at risk of growing up to become introverted, neurotic and […]
Brain Connections High In Premature Infants
A new discovery which may enable researchers to better comprehend the rationale behind the increased association of premature births and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention deficit disorders and autism spectrum disorders is that connections in the different regions of the brain are altered in premature infants. The researchers of a new study from the King’s […]
Two Studies Identify Routes to Better Outcomes for Infants Born Prematurely
Two new longitudinal studies that appear in the journal Child Development offer insights on how to decrease the problems associated with premature birth. In the first study, researchers in Israel found that early positive caregiving can reduce risks associated with preterm birth. In the second study, researchers in Norway identified an intervention associated with better […]
Study Shows Promoting Maternal Interaction Improves Growth, Weight Gain in Preemies
According to a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, teaching mothers of preterm infants how to interact with their babies more effectively results in better weight gain and growth for the infants. A subsequent study showed that infants who had the benefit of a major component of this intervention more rapidly […]