Much of the neonatal nutrition literature has focused on the management of very low birth weight infants, a group of infants usually less than 33 weeks gestation. Much less attention has been paid to nutritional management issues in preterm infants at higher gestations. This article reviews nutritional issues that exist from the 239th day (34 0/7 weeks gestation) and ending on the 259th day (36...

BACKGROUND Breast milk is considered the optimal nutrition for all newborn infants. While there is high initiation of lactation among mothers of preterm infants in Australia, there is a rapid decline of continued lactation. Furthermore, there is an inverse relationship between infant gestation and duration of lactation. To better understand the breastfeeding experience of parents of very low bi...

Background: The relationship between premature birth and early cognitive function as measured by eye-tracking data remains unexplored. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of prematurity on the development of object permanence and attention capacity using eye-tracking measures. Methods: We prospectively studied very low birth weight (VLBW < 1500 g) preterm infants who were admitted...

Previously we identified associations between the mother's air pollution exposure and birth weight for births in Connecticut and Massachusetts from 1999-2002. Other studies also found effects, though results are inconsistent. We explored potential uncertainties in earlier work and further explored associations between air pollution and birth weight for PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2, and SO2. Specificall...

PURPOSE To investigate the association among types of breastfeeding, presence of child development risk, socioeconomic and obstetric variables. METHODS The sample was composed of 182 mother-child dyades. Data were collected through an initial interview about breastfeeding; obstetric, socioeconomic, demographic and psychosocial aspects; and mother-child interaction analysis by the Child Develo...

OBJECTIVES To perform a bibliometric analysis of theses and dissertations on prematurity in the Capes database from 1987 to 2009. METHODS This is a descriptive study that used the bibliometric approach for the production of indicators of scientific production. Operationally, the methodology was developed in four steps: 1) construction of the theoretical framework; 2) data collection sourced f...

Background Teenage pregnant women are at risk of having low birth weight and preterm birth babies. The additional psychosocial interventions are thought to improve these outcomes for teenage pregnancy. However, the effect of additional psychosocial intervention programs on those is uncertain. The aim of this meta-analysis is to assess the effects of additional psychosocial interventions for tee...

The recent economic crisis that has been affecting Italy in the last few years has led to an increase in poverty and to worse social conditions, inevitably affecting infancy (1, 2). The health conditions of babies, notably worse among those belonging to needy families, can be influenced by their status already before birth. Babies born to women living in disadvantaged conditions, such as immigr...

An accurate assessment of gestational age is vital to population-based research and surveillance in maternal and infant health. However, the quality of gestational age measurements derived from birth certificates has been in question. Using the 2002 US public-use natality file, the authors examined the agreement between estimates of gestational age based on the last menstrual period (LMP) and c...