Aim:  To evaluate implementation and results of neonatal hearing screening with automated auditory brainstem response by bedside nurses in a single centre neonatal intensive care unit. Methods:  Retrospective review of charts of 2074 newborns admitted over a 4 year period. Results:  1824 newborns (88%) were screened. A 'pass' result was ...

BackgroundNeonatal sepsis due to intestinal bacterial translocation is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Understanding microbial colonisation of the gut in prematurity may predict risk of sepsis to guide future strategies to manipulate the microbiome.MethodsProspective longitudinal study of premature infants. Stool samples were obtained weekly. DNA was extracted and ...

With improved obstetrical management and evidence-based use of intrapartum antimicrobial therapy, early-onset neonatal sepsis is becoming less frequent. However, early-onset sepsis remains one of the most common causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality in the preterm population. The identification of neonates at risk for early-onset sepsis is frequently based on ...

BACKGROUND:: Sepsis in the neonatal period is a major cause of child mortality in low-income countries. Hospitalization and parenteral penicillin/ampicillin and gentamicin therapy is recommended for management. Many families, however, are unable to access hospital care, and most home-delivered newborns who develop sepsis die without receiving antibiotic therapy. Appropriate community-based ...

Aminoglycosides have played a major role in antimicrobial therapy since their discovery in the 1940s. Their bactericidal efficacy in gram-negative infections, synergism with beta-lactam antibiotics, limited bacterial resistance, and low cost have given these agents a firm place in antimicrobial treatment. After penicillins, aminoglycosides are the most commonly used drugs ...

Objective:To evaluate the usefulness of serum lipid peroxide (LPO) for hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in full-term neonates.Study Design:Diagnostic test evaluation forming three groups: (1) healthy full-term neonates (n=59), (2) at-risk full-term neonates without HIE (n=57) and (3) at-risk full-term neonates with HIE (n=57). HIE diagnosis was made using the Finer ...

BACKGROUND:: Sepsis in the neonatal period is a major cause of child mortality in low-income countries. Hospitalization and parenteral penicillin/ampicillin and gentamicin therapy is recommended for management. Many families, however, are unable to access hospital care, and most home-delivered newborns who develop sepsis die without receiving antibiotic therapy. Appropriate community-based ...

Objective:Explore feasibility and acceptability of gentamicin in the Uniject prefilled injection system, in combination with oral cotrimoxazole-p and an appropriate newborn weighing scale, for treatment of possible neonatal sepsis when administered in the community by female community health volunteers.Study Design:In a community-based program in Nepal, 45 volunteers recorded 422 live ...

Aminoglycosides have played a major role in antimicrobial therapy since their discovery in the 1940s. Their bactericidal efficacy in gram-negative infections, synergism with beta-lactam antibiotics, limited bacterial resistance, and low cost have given these agents a firm place in antimicrobial treatment. After penicillins, aminoglycosides are the most commonly used drugs ...

The effect of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on infants' developing social expectations for maternal behavior was investigated longitudinally over infants' first 3 months. Infants with and without skin-to-skin contact engaged with their mothers in the Still Face Task at ages 1week, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months. Infants with skin-to-skin ...

Choledochocele in a premature neonate who presented with obstructive jaundice and was managed surgically is reported. At 1-year follow-up, the child is asymptomatic.

To assess the causes of bacteraemia in young infants and susceptibility to first-line antibiotics (benzylpenicillin plus gentamicin) at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Malawi during 2002-2007. Retrospective analysis of demographic and microbiological data using laboratory records. QECH is Malawi's largest hospital with 7000 neonates admitted annually, 9% for septicaemia. ...

Subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn (ScFN) is an uncommon condition caused by generalized and/or local tissue hypoperfusion. The skin lesions of ScFN tend to improve spontaneously. However, ScFN may also lead to complications which cause serious problems. The severity of the etiologic factors contributing to the development of the ...

OBJECTIVE:: Nevirapine and cotrimoxazole are associated with hematologic toxicities and skin-rash. Safety of their concurrent use for prophylaxis over extended periods among HIV-exposed uninfected infants has not been previously assessed. DESIGN:: Secondary data analysis of the 'HIV Prevention Trials Network-046 protocol' (version 2.0), a phase-III, randomized, placebo-controlled trial that assessed ...

Aim:  To investigate differences between the breast-seeking and crying behaviour of girls and boys in skin-to-skin contact with their mother or their father after Caesarean section as well as the point-in-time for the first breastfeeding and to compare mothers' and fathers' interactive behaviour with their newborn girl or boy. Methods:  ...

  In recent years, there have been continuing efforts to understand the effects of baby skin care routines and products on the healthy development of baby skin. Such efforts aim ultimately to determine the best infant skin care practices. The pediatric and dermatologic communities have not reached consensus on what ...

Objective: To evaluate the effect of mother-infant early skin-to-skin contact on breastfeeding behavior of infants. Study Design: A randomized controlled trial. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, from November to December 2009. Methodology: Eligible mothers ...

IS IT 30 YEARS ALREADY SINCE I RECEIVED my first issue of Neonatal Network: The Journal of Neonatal Nursing (NN)? How time does fly when you are having fun! NN was a newborn 30 years ago and now it is a fully mature, highly respected peer-reviewed professional journal indexed by ...

PURPOSE: Penile adhesions with hidden penis and penile skin bridges are complications after neonatal circumcision that seem to develop more often in overweight children. They could possibly be avoided if there were neonatal parameters predicting circumcision complications. We hypothesized that penile adhesions with hidden penis and skin bridges may be ...

Objective:To determine whether transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) from covered skin (TcB-C) during and after discontinuing phototherapy (PHT) is reliable in treating neonatal jaundice.Study Design:In this prospective observational study, before starting PHT, part of the forehead was covered. TcB-C and TcB from exposed skin (TcB-E) to PHT were measured before starting PHT, ...

Background/Aims: Premature infants lack the vernix caseosa, have an incompetent stratum corneum (SC) barrier and are predisposed to infection. Use of topical agents to improve barrier function has had mixed outcomes. The aim was to determine the effect of vernix versus common barrier creams on the rate and quality of ...

To determine the frequency of congenital hearing loss (CHL) in healthy newborn infants in Konya, Turkey. A total of 43,503 healthy neonates born at Doctor Faruk Sükan Obstetrics and Children's Hospital between the years of 2006 and 2011 were evaluated, prospectively. Hearing screening test was carried out using Transient Evoked ...

This article describes a quality improvement project in which early skin-to-skin (STS) contact, in the operating room (OR) and during recovery, was used as an intervention to increase the success of breastfeeding initiation among healthy infants after cesarean, at a large, urban, acute care teaching hospital. The nursing role is ...

Aim:  To describe the time of first skin-to-skin contact in extremely preterm infants in a national perspective and to investigate possible factors affecting the time of first skin-to-skin contact. Methods:  A population-based prospective descriptive study of extremely preterm infants (n = 520) in seven regional hospitals in Sweden. Results:  Extremely ...

Background: The neonatal period is generally regarded as the first 28 days of extrauterine life. Skin disorders are commonly seen in the neonatal period, most of which are transient and limited to the first days or weeks of life. In spite of being so frequent, these transient conditions usually escape ...

Within days after birth, rapid surface colonization of infant skin coincides with significant functional changes. Gradual maturation of skin function, structure, and composition continues throughout the first years of life. Recent reports have revealed topographical and temporal variations in the adult skin microbiome. Here we address the question of how ...

Background: Skin care is important especially in infancy as the skin barrier matures during the first year of life. We studied the effects of baby swimming and baby lotion on the skin barrier function of infants. Subjects and methods: 44 infants aged 3-6 months were included in this mono-center prospective ...

The skin is increasingly recognized as a component of the innate immune response, in addition to its role as a physical barrier. Although the deleterious effects of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR), including immunosuppression and cutaneous tumorigenesis, are widely acknowledged, most studies to date have concentrated on adult skin. Despite the ...

BACKGROUND: Studies on the effects of breastfeeding on the development of Atopic Dermatitis (AD) have shown controversial results. The importance of this condition deserves further studies; in particular, it remains unclear whether colonization of atopic patients by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) through breastfeeding is relevant to the development of AD. ...

A growing body of evidence suggests that extended skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby immediately after birth provides numerous and significant benefits including regulating heartbeat and temperature for the baby, protecting against infections, and promoting feelings of calm and wellbeing in both mother and baby. As a result the Baby ...

Previous reports have shown that skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth is the optimal form of care for a full-term, healthy infant and its mother. As this is rarely researched the aim of this study was to explore experiences of skin-to-skin care in healthy mothers of healthy, full-term infants in the ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess emergency department (ED) utilization and physician preparedness for infants with single ventricle (SV) physiology between stage 1 and stage 2 surgical palliation. STUDY DESIGN: Records of infants with SV physiology discharged after stage I palliation between July 2006 and June 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. Next, a cross-sectional ...

We evaluated the birth outcomes of planned home births. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using Missouri vital records from 1989 to 2005 to compare the risk of newborn seizure and intrapartum fetal death in planned home births attended by physicians/certified nurse midwives (CNMs) or non-CNMs with hospitals/birthing center births. ...

Recurrent wheezing, especially apart from colds, combined with physician-diagnosed eczema or atopic dermatitis, eosinophilia, and a parental history of asthma, increase the probability of a subsequent asthma diagnosis in the absence of other causes.

The preterm infants' skin is structurally and functionally immature at birth because of immature stratum corneum barrier function, leading to problems with fluid loses, thermoregulation, and infection. Two parameters of barrier function can be non-invasively assessed: Stratum Corneum Hydration (SCH) and Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL). Skin-to-Skin Care (SSC) is the ...

Background:  Macrosomia is associated with childhood obesity. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a risk factor for macrosomia. The aim of this large-scale investigation was to determine the incidence, risk factors, characteristic features, and perinatal outcome of macrosomic infants. Methods:  This prospective study was carried out on 6385 newborns. Demographic data ...

An abundance of experience with own-race faces and limited to no experience with other-race faces has been associated with better recognition memory for own-race faces in infants, children, and adults. This study investigated the developmental origins of this other-race effect (ORE) by examining the role of a salient perceptual property ...

Neonatal sepsis is the most common cause of neonatal deaths with high mortality despite treatment. Neonatal sepsis can be classified into two subtypes depending upon onset of symptoms. There are many factors that make neonates more susceptable to infection. Signs of sepsis in neonates are often non-specific and high degree ...

Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (DI) in the foetus has been described as a rare presentation of severe polyhydramnios. We report a case of foetal central DI, characterised by severe polyhydramnios. Significant polyuria was noted at birth. Serum AVP level was un-measurable (<0.5 pg/ml). A dramatic response to intravenous dDAVP (desmopressin) was noted ...

The mechanism of transport of trace elements from the mother to the newborn is still not well known. The aim of present study was to compare the status of trace toxic elements, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) in biological samples (whole blood, urine and scalp hair) of insulin-dependent ...

The etiology of esophageal atresia is poorly understood. The incidence of some congenital malformations is increased in children of mothers with diabetes, but the role of maternal diabetes in esophageal atresia development in the infant is unknown. We hypothesized that maternal diabetes increases the risk of esophageal atresia in the ...

Hypocalcemia is a frequently observed clinical and laboratory abnormality in neonates. Ionic calcium is crucial for many biochemical processes including blood coagulation, neuromuscular excitability, cell membrane integrity, and many of the cellular enzymatic activities. Healthy term infants undergo a physiological nadir in serum calcium levels by 24-48 h of age. ...

Polycythemia is defined as a venous hematocrit above 65%. The hematocrit in a newborn peaks at 2 h of age and decreases gradually after that. The relationship between hematocrit and viscosity is almost linear till 65% and exponential thereafter. Increased viscosity of blood is associated with symptoms of hypo-perfusion. Clinical ...

OBJECTIVE: Obstetrical risk is increased with maternal obesity. This prospective study was designed to simultaneously evaluate the outcomes in obese parturients and their newborns. METHODS: Patients with a body mass index (BMI) > or =35 were prospectively identified and compared to an equal number of normal weight parturients. Maternal and ...

About 3 to 10% of pregnancies are complicated by glycemic control abnormalities. Maternal diabetes results in significantly greater risk for antenatal, perinatal, and neonatal morbidity and mortality, as well as congenital malformations. The number of diabetic mothers is expected to rise, as more and more of the obese pediatric female ...

Proinflammatory advanced glycation end products (AGEs) found in thermally processed foods correlate with serum AGEs (sAGEs) and promote type 1 and type 2 diabetes in mice. Herein we assess the relationship of maternal blood and food AGEs to circulating glycoxidants, inflammatory markers, and insulin levels in infants up to age ...

Congenital lumbar hernia (CLH) is rarely seen in children and the patients with CLH usually have other congenital anomalies. The most common clinical presentation of CLH, previously named lumbocostovertebral syndrome, includes hemivertebrae, absent ribs, and abdominal wall muscle hypoplasia. We report on an infant of a diabetic mother presenting with ...

Apparent life-threatening events (ALTEs), because of their prevalence as well as their potential to hide serious diseases and consume significant medical resources, remain a challenge for physicians caring for infants. In this review, we focused on the assessment of the well-appearing infant for the most serious diagnoses, namely serious bacterial ...

CASE: Erasto is a term infant born by vaginal delivery to a gravida 7 para 7 Somalia woman with full prenatal care in the United States. His mother had gestational diabetes. The delivery was complicated by respiratory distress and an urgent admission to the neonatal intensive care unit for further ...

We report a case of transient hyperinsulinism with hypocortisolemia in a preterm small for date neonate with recurrent hypoglycemia and perinatal stress. Investigation revealed increased Insulin level with subnormal cortisol level even during hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia resolved by its own by 22nd day of life with normal insulin and cortisol level ...