For opioid-dependent newborns, a mother’s love is the best medicine

Yale: More than six months after his paper on his new treatment for babies born to mothers addicted to opiates appeared in the journal Pediatrics, Matthew Grossman, M.D., HS ’06, assistant professor of pediatrics, is seeing his methods slowly but steadily take hold. [See “More mom, fewer drugs,” Yale Medicine Magazine, Autumn 2016].

Reducing Risk of Lung Distress in Preterm Babies

Jefferson: Steroids for women at risk of preterm birth improve lung development and reduces risk of severe respiratory distress in babies. Currently, corticosteroids are recommended for women at high risk of preterm birth between 23 and 33 weeks of pregnancy, but not after. A new meta-analysis compiling evidence from six clinical trials confirms earlier work suggesting that at-risk babies may benefit from steroids after 34 weeks and suggests that babies born to mothers who had a scheduled cesarean section after 37 weeks may benefit as well. The study was published in The BMJ on October 12.

Vaginal Microbes Can Be Partially Restored to C-Section Babies

UCSD: In a small pilot study, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai determined that a simple swab to transfer vaginal microbes from a mother to her C-section-delivered newborn can alter the baby's microbial makeup (microbiome) in a way that more closely resembles the microbiome of a vaginally delivered baby.

Depression during pregnancy could increase risk of offspring depression in adulthood

London: People born to mothers who are depressed during pregnancy are up to three times more likely to have depression in later life and up to twice as likely to have experienced child maltreatment, primarily at the hands of peers and other adults in the home, according to new research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London.

Two out of ten plastic rings for babies release chemicals with hormone-like effect

Frankfurt: In laboratory tests, two out of ten teethers, plastic toys used to sooth babies’ teething ache, release endocrine disrupting chemicals. One product contains parabens, which are normally used as preservatives in cosmetics, while the second contains six so-far unidentified endocrine disruptors. The findings were reported by researchers at the Goethe University in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Toxicology.

Study to discover babies' risk of becoming overweight

Nottingham: A new computer programme, developed at The University of Nottingham, could enable health visitors to spot which babies are more likely to become overweight later in life. The user-friendly, multimedia computer programme, called ProAsk (Proactive Assessment of Overweight Risk during Infancy), uses data based on questions answered by parents and carers to determine how likely it is a baby will develop a weight problem when they are older, compared to other infants. Nottingham academics are collaborating on a study, led by Anglia Ruskin University, to examine whether parents and carers find ProAsk helpful and whether health visitors can use their results to tailor advice to parents and explore possible ways to help keep their babies at a healthy weight.

Babies feel pain like adults

Oxford: The brains of babies ‘light up’ in a very similar way to adults when exposed to the same painful stimulus, a pioneering Oxford University brain scanning study has discovered. It suggests that babies experience pain much like adults. The study looked at 10 healthy infants aged between one and six days old and 10 healthy adults aged 23-36 years. Infants were recruited from the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford (UK) and adult volunteers were Oxford University staff or students.

Who are the heavy babies?

Canterbury: A University of Canterbury  researcher who examined issues relating to heavy babies, says the relationship between high birth weight and socio-economic status, obesity, and iron supplements is complicated. “Although low socio-economic status is generally detrimental to most health outcomes, it doesn't appear to be clearly so when it comes to high birth weight risk,” she says.

Oxytocin makes females react to baby cries

Scimex: Oxytocin, known as the 'cuddle hormone', not only bonds partners during sex but also drives new mothers to notice and react to babies' cries, suggests new research by US scientists. The researchers added extra oxytocin to the brains of virgin female mice who had previously ignored cries from mice pups, and found that they reacted as if the pups were their own, suddenly and instinctively knowing to pick up the pups and return them to the nest they had been removed from. They also saw that even when these mice's oxytocin levels returned back to normal, they still responded maternally to pups' cries.

Bodysuit or sleep sack? That is the serious question

CNRS: Scientists observed the effect of preterm babies' clothing on their behavior. Newborns placed in a sleep sack were less active and touched parts of their bodies less frequently than those dressed in a simple bodysuit. The scientists suppose that the former may have been more stressed for two reasons: their movements were hampered, so that comforting self-touching was less frequent. This study is published on 17 March 2015 in Scientific Reports.

Antiseptic prevents deaths in newborns

Cochrane: A low-cost antiseptic used to cleanse the cord after birth  could help reduce infant death rates in developing countries by 12%, a systematic review published in the Cochrane Library suggests. Authors of the review found that when chlorhexidine was used on babies born outside of a hospital, it reduced the number of newborn babies who died or suffer from infections.

Chlorhexidine skin care for prevention of mortality and infection in neonates

Cochrane: Infections are the single most important cause of neonatal deaths worldwide and are responsible for almost a third of all neonatal mortality. Affordable, feasible and efficacious interventions to reduce neonatal infections and improved neonatal survival are needed. Chlorhexidine, a broad spectrum antiseptic agent, is active against common organisms causing perinatal infections. Use of chlorhexidine on neonatal skin or cord, or both, for prevention of infection is a possible strategy to improve neonatal survival. In this review we assessed the effects of neonatal skin or cord care with chlorhexidine compared to routine care or no treatment on neonatal survival and infections in newborn infants born in the hospital or community.

Meconium ileus

Meconium is the first stool of a newborn. This stool is very thick and sticky. Meconium ileus is a bowel obstruction that occurs when the meconium is thicker and stickier than normal meconium, creating a blockage of the small intestine. Most infants with meconium ileus have cystic fibrosis.