OBJECTIVE To examine the relation between the neurobehavior of very preterm infants and the level of NICU quality of developmental care. METHODS The neurobehavior of 178 very preterm infants (gestational age ≤29 weeks and/or birth weight ≤1500 g) from 25 NICUs participating in a large multicenter, longitudinal study (Neonatal Adequate Care for Quality of Life, NEO-ACQUA) was examined with a s...

Background: Birth of a premature neonate is associated with hospital admission and separation from the family. Admission of the neonates intervenes on infant-mother attachment and so adversely affects on the quality of care given by the mother, and subsequently increases the risk of delayed behavioral problems in the children. Aim: To assess the effectiveness of mother empowerment program on th...

Introduction: Parental participation in the care of and support to premature infants is the main factor in accelerating health improvement and growth of infants in the neonatal unit. Many factors are associated with this participation, whose investigation provides appropriate contexts for parental participation. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the participation of mothers...

Introduction Cultural innovations and child care practices and, importantly, the dynamic social values and ideologies that legitimize them, shift quite rapidly relative to evolutionary-based changes in fundamental infant biology. This raises the possibility that widely recommended infant care practices can be at odds with the human infant’s biological, psychological and emotional needs and expe...

Crying is a common, normal occurrence in a healthy infant. However, crying is one of the primary reasons parents seek health care for their infant child (Barr, 199 Many parents find inconsolable crying to be particularly difficult because the use of soothing techniques to comfort the infant seems futile. Parents also may view infant crying as a negative reflection on their ability to parent, in...

Background: This cross-sectional study was designed to explore the impact of the availability of maternity care services on the int~Ult mortality rates in nonmetropolitan (rural) counties in Florida. Methods: We evaluated the sufficiency of physicians providing maternity care in each rural county. We then constructed a mathematical model to compare physician availability with the infant mortali...