Premature birth rates and premature infant morbidity remain discouragingly high. Improving nourishment for these infants is the key for accelerating their development and decreasing disease risk. Dietary protein is essential for growth and development of infants. Studies on protein nourishment for premature infants have focused on protein requirements for catch-up growth, nitrogen balance, and ...

This document reviews the main data relating to the structural and functional organisation of olfactory perception in the premature newborn. The chemoreceptive systems (main olfactory, trigeminal, vomeronasal and terminal systems) develop in different chronological orders but quite at very early stage during ontogeny. The premature newborn, despite being immature, has been shown to react to a w...

Background The provision, maintenance and promotion of the health of infants as a vulnerable group in health care services are a high priority, and the first step in reducing infant mortality and improving their health is undoubtedly the identification of their mortality status. We aimed to study the spatial distribution of premature infant mortality in 194 count...

Introduction After the introduction of surfactant, the survival rate of preterm neonates has increased significantly. This issue attracted much attention towards this fragile population. Many studies have demonstrated that massage plays a role in the weight gain of preterm infants. This study compares the effect of massage therapy on infants who were massaged by a nurse or their mother with tho...

Background: Feeding difficulties are common and important in premature infants. In order to identify neonatal feeding difficulties, clinicians and nurses require assessment tools to conduct an objective evaluation of infant oral feeding (breast/bottle-feeding). Early identification of infants with feeding difficulty is critical to implement appropriate therapies and op...

Human milk offers many short term and long term health benefits to infants and mothers. Immune protective components including oligosaccharides protect premature infants from infections and necrotizing enterocolitis. It also enhances gut maturity and has shown better tolerance and rapid feeding advancement in premature infants. Human milk is the best initial feeding for the preterm infant; howe...