We investigate the relationship between maternal exposure to benzene and birth weight outcomes for resident births in the United States in 1996 and 1999, taking advantage of a natural experiment afforded by the regulation of benzene content of gasoline in various American cities. Regression results show that a unit increase (μg/m(3)) in maternal exposure to benzene reduces birth weight by 16.5 ...

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to compare the beginning of eruption of the first deciduous tooth in preterm infants (<38 weeks) with full-term infants (38 and 42 weeks) of normal birth weight ((3)2.500g), low birth weight (< 2.500g) and very low birth weight (<1.500g), in order to evaluate if premature birth and low birth weight would affect tooth eruption. METHODS The neonatal re...

OBJECTIVE The present study is a literature review to identify the effects of a very low birth weight newborn on family. This is an important instrument to clarify epidemiological issues and to suggest the directions for health policy efforts. METHOD A three-step review was carried out using databases of journals indexed for Medline/Lilacs/ Scielo/Cochrane published between 1966 and 2005 usin...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To determine the influence of children born to immigrant mothers on the total proportions of low birth weight and preterm deliveries in Oslo and to explain the increases in the proportions of children with low birth weight and low gestational age since 1980-1982. DESIGN This was a cross sectional study based on Norwegian Medical Birth Registry data and information on mothers' ...

Data from a previous study were analysed to develop a new model for neonatal nutritional evaluation which is independent of precise maturity determination. Birth weights and arm/head ratios were recorded for each infant recruited for the study. Both indices were correlated by simple regression analysis with gestational age as the independent variable. Birth weight showed highly significant corr...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate intraocular pressure in very low birth weight preterm infants and correlate it with postconceptional age. METHODS The intraocular pressure in a prospective cohort of very low birth weight premature infants (defined as a birth weight ≤1,500 g and gestational age ≤32 weeks) admitted to Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre , Brazil was evaluated weekly. The evaluated outcom...

The performance of very low birth weight preterm infants, in terms of cognition and expressive language, was analyzed and compared with that of term infants with the Protocol for Expressive Language and Cognition Development Observation (PELCDO). The study involved 12 very low birth weight preterm infants and 20 term infants, all of whom were evaluated monthly. Sessions were videotaped, and dat...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to enhance the ability to coordinate and deliver care in a holistic manner, through a family-centered care map, so that the developmental, physical, and psychosocial needs of the infant and family are met. METHODS A Web-based map was based on 7 distinct clinical phases with 3 variations of an infant's course through a NICU. Sixty-three potentially bet...

Background Numerous studies have underlined the importance of early feeding on shortand long-term development of very low birth-weight (VLBW) neonates [1,2]. Nutrition of preterm infants may be divided in two subsequent periods: the early adaptive or “transition” period from birth to the second week of life followed by the “stable-growing” period up to discharge from the neonatal unit. Dependin...

BACKGROUND It is important to know the impact of Very Preterm (VP) birth or Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW). The purpose of this study is to evaluate changes in Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of adults born VP or with a VLBW, between age 19 and age 28. METHODS The 1983 nationwide Dutch Project On Preterm and Small for gestational age infants (POPS) cohort of 1338 VP (gestational age <32 ...