BACKGROUND Most evidence on the association between malaria in pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes focuses on falciparum malaria detected at birth. We assessed the association between the number and timing of falciparum and vivax malaria episodes during pregnancy on small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and preterm birth. METHODS We analysed observational data collected from antenatal clinics ...

We assessed the risk of preterm birth according to the mother's place of origin in the context of a free and universal healthcare system. We analysed 75,292 newborn infants born between 2008-2011 in Alicante (Spain). The outcomes were: 1) very preterm (gestational age ≤ 32 weeks) and 2) moderate-to-late preterm (gestational age 33-37 weeks). Other variables: infant's gender, maternal age and or...

Historically the major focus in neonatal neurology has been on brain injury in premature infants born less than 30 gestational weeks. This focus reflects the urgent need to improve the widely recognized poor neurological outcomes that occur in these infants. The most common underlying substrate of cerebral palsy in these premature infants is periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). Nevertheless, PVL...

(1) Background: Late preterm infants account for the majority of preterm births and are at risk of altered body composition. Because body composition modulates later health outcomes and human milk is recommended as the normal method for infant feeding, we sought to investigate whether human milk feeding in early life can modulate body composition development in late preterm infants; (2) Methods...

Background For infants born moderately/late preterm (32-37 weeks of gestation), immaturity of the intestine has the potential to impact both short- and long-term gastrointestinal function. The aim of this study conducted in sheep was to compare the morphology and smooth muscle contractility of the ileum in term and late preterm lambs. Materials and methods Lambs delivered preterm (132 days ge...

Objective To assess the well-being of preterm newborns using the Bayley-III scales in a Korean-based population, and to evaluate the perinatal risk factors influencing developmental outcome. Methods Using the Bayley-III scales, we assessed 120 preterm infants who were referred for evaluation of neurodevelopmental performance. We subdivided them into an extremely preterm group (n=18) and a ver...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Newborns delivered late-preterm (between 340/7 and 366/7 weeks of gestation) are at increased risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Polymorphisms within the surfactant protein (SP) A and B gene have been shown to predispose to RDS in preterm neonates. The aim of this study was to investigate whether specific SP-A and/or SP-B genetic variants are also associated ...

Risks associated with late-preterm birth The article by Gouyon et al. in this issue adds to a limited collection on the health of late-preterm infants. Using a population-based dataset of over 150 000 singletons born alive at 34–41 weeks gestation in Burgundy in 2000–08, the authors showed a serial reduction with gestational age in the risk of death or severe neurological condition, from an adj...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether a screening strategy in pregnancy lowers the rate of preterm delivery in a general population of pregnant women. DESIGN Multicentre, prospective, randomised controlled trial. SETTING Non-hospital based antenatal clinics. PARTICIPANTS 4429 pregnant women presenting for their routine prenatal visits early in the second trimester were screened by Gram stain for ...