BACKGROUND Adolescents and adults born as small preterm infants show more pronounced risk factors of cardiovascular disease. Whether similar risks apply across all degrees of preterm birth is poorly known. METHODS We studied the association between preterm birth and cardiovascular risk factors in 6642 16-year-old adolescents of the population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986. Of these...

Moderate and late preterm births account for the majority of preterm babies. The common perception that birth at 32-36 weeks' gestation carries few risks is now being challenged, as these babies have increased risk of neonatal mortality and morbidity. However, spontaneous labour at this gestation frequently has no specific, easily identifiable precursor, although preterm birth per se has a numb...

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), the chronic lung disease of prematurity, is associated with impaired vascular and alveolar growth. Antenatal factors contribute to the risk for developing BPD by unclear mechanisms. Endothelial progenitor cells, such as angiogenic circulating progenitor cells (CPCs) and late-outgrowth endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs), may contribute to angiogenesis in t...

BACKGROUND Vitamin D is essential for bone mineralization, particularly in premature infants. For nearly 20 years, Quebec has offered a program of free vitamin D supplements via its public medication insurance plan Régie de l'Assurance Maladie du Québec (RAMQ). The objective of this study is to evaluate the number of preterm infants that obtained at least one bottle (50 doses) of vitamin D supp...

INTRODUCTION Infants born between the 34(th) - 36(th) week of pregnancy account for 75% of all preterm infants. Their seemingly slight immaturity is related to serious health problems. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to analyse perinatal factors that influence the occurrence in infants of such problems as respiratory failure, metabolic problems and early onset sepsis (EOS). MATERIALS AND...

OBJECTIVE Improved survival of preterm infants, beneficial effects of trophic feeding and limited data on timing management of enteral feeding for very low birth weight preterm infants requires more researches to determine the exact starting time and increased volumes. This study aims to compare early (<48 h) versus late (>72h) trophic feeding with respect to important neonatal outcomes. METH...

BACKGROUND Late preterm infants account for the majority of preterm births. They are at an increased risk of neonatal mortality and morbidity and are less likely to initiate breastfeeding and to be exclusively breastfed at discharge compared to infants born at term. The aim of this study was to identify the facilitators and barriers to breastfeeding during hospital stays according to the experi...