Neurodevelopmental care, which is any NICU intervention undertaken to improve neurodevelopmental outcome, includes NICU design, nursing routines, nursing care plans, management of pain, feeding methods and, most importantly, encouraging parental involvement with their NICU infant. Recognition that sensory stimulation can overwhelm preterm infants and increase physiologic signs of stress led to ...

OBJECTIVES Community violence is associated with health-compromising behaviors (HCBs) and adverse general health and pregnancy outcomes. It is unknown whether these effects persist after adjusting for health behaviors. METHODS Retrospective cohort study of 36,637 pregnancies, 2005-2009, using birth certificate/hospital discharge databases. Community violence rate = (nonaccidental injuries/tot...

KEY FINDINGS Data from the Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set and Preliminary Mortality Data File, National Vital Statistics System. The U.S. infant mortality rate did not decline from 2000 to 2005. Data from the preliminary mortality file suggest a 2% decline in the infant mortality rate from 2005 to 2006. The U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than those in most other developed countries, a...

Background: The present study characterizes the population of women residing in state Georgia who did not receive prenatal care before giving birth to a live infant. association between mother’s place residence (rural/non-rural) and preterm delivery was also examined.

AIM To study baroreflex maturation by measuring, longitudinally, baroreflex sensitivity in preterm (gestational age 24-37 weeks) and full term infants. METHODS Baroreflex sensitivity was quantified once a week, one to seven times, by a totally non-invasive method. RESULTS Baroreflex sensitivity at birth was lower in the preterm infant and increased with gestational age. It also increased wi...

Breastfeeding is the ultimate goal for the preterm infant and mother pair. Preterm delivery, however, creates a unique set of challenges, making it difficult to breastfeed initially. The preterm infants’ progression to breastfeeding is often complicated by neurological and gastro-immaturity and underlying medical co-morbidities. Mothers can also experience multi-faceted issues initiating, build...

BACKGROUND The stress that results from preterm birth, requisite acute care and prolonged physical separation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) can have adverse physiological/psychological effects on both the infant and the mother. In particular, the experience compromises the establishment and maintenance of optimal mother-infant relationship, the subsequent development of the infant,...

OBJECTIVE We compared energy expenditure (EE) of preterm infants fed their mother's milk versus preterm infant formula. Study design A prospective, randomized crossover study of 13 healthy, appropriate weight for gestational age, gavage-fed, preterm infants. Before the study and according to our feeding protocol, infants uniformly received alternate feeds of human milk and formula. Each infant ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Home visiting is 1 strategy to improve child health and parenting. Since implementation of home visiting trials 2 decades ago, US preterm births (<37 weeks) have risen by 20%. The objective of this study was to review evidence regarding home visiting and outcomes of preterm infants METHODS Searches of Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature,...