BACKGROUND Infant mortality rates are commonly used to compare the health of populations. Observed differences are often attributed to variation in child health care quality. However, any differences are at least partly explained by variation in the prevalence of risk factors at birth, such as low birth weight. This distinction is important for designing interventions to reduce infant mortality...

BACKGROUND Infant mortality has shown a steady decline in recent years but a marked socioeconomic gradient persists. Antenatal care is generally thought to be an effective method of improving pregnancy outcomes, but the effectiveness of specific antenatal care programmes as a means of reducing infant mortality in socioeconomically disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of women has not been rigoro...

In this case report, we present an infant who has a double aortic arch vascular ring anomaly. We emphasize the importance of maintaining a high level of clinical suspicion for vascular ring when evaluating an infant with the symptom of persistent stridor. Recognizing persistent stridor early and treating the underlying cause can, indeed, optimize outcomes. Case A 3-day-old boy presented to the ...

Three thousand nine hundred and thirty-two consecutive newborns were examined at birth for the presence of congenital malformations. The overall incidence of malformations was 1.2%. Congenital malformations accounted for 9.2% of perinatal and 12.8% of neonatal deaths. The central nervous system (39.5%) was most commonly involved followed by musculoskeletal system (14.5%). Involvement of more th...

This paper presents ethical dilemmas concerning the termination of pregnancy, the management of childbirth, and the withdrawal of life-support from infants in special care, for a small sample of British Pakistani Muslim parents of babies diagnosed with fatal abnormalities. Case studies illustrating these dilemmas are taken from a qualitative study of 66 families of Pakistani origin referred to ...

OBJECTIVE: to estimate prematurity prevalence and associated factors in Divinópolis, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, 2008-2011. METHODS: this is a cross-sectional study with data from 9,987 records held on the Information System on Live Births; a multiple logistic regression model was used. RESULTS: prevalence of preterm births was 8.0%; the higher likelihood of premature newborns were found to...

A newborn term male infant was found to have the stigmata of VACTERL syndrome, including cervical and thoracic hemivertebra, partial sacral agenesis, 13 pairs of ribs, high imperforate anus with rectovesical fistula, and tracheoesophageal fistula with proximal esophageal atresia. No open spinal dysraphism or skin dimpling was seen. Ultrasonography of the spinal cord was performed to screen for ...

Varicella and herpes zoster during pregnancy has been associated with birth defects, neonatal varicella, herpes zoster in newborns and infants. The aim of the present study was to determine the consequences for the neonates, whose mothers were closely exposed to varicella zoster virus (VZV) during pregnancy. Fifty six pregnant women with uncertain histories of prior VZV infection, after a close...