Other content tagged: preterm
Born too soon: a decade of action on preterm birth
With preterm birth now being the leading cause of child deaths before the 5th birthday, 70+ organisations in 45+ countries, including EFCNI, have worked together to develop the report 'Born too soon: a decade of action on preterm birth', setting an ambitious agenda to reduce the burden of preterm birth. This report shines a spotlight on country achievements that can inform and inspire further progress, roots the agenda for preterm birth within the Sustainable…
Read more
Global analysis of neonatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic – a healthcare providers’ perspective
With COVID-19 disrupting neonatal health systems globally, a group of experts undertook a thematic analysis of healthcare providers’ experiences using a disseminated online survey. Results show high levels of stress on healthcare providers, disruption of newborn care practices, and lack of guidelines regarding preterm newborns and babies with low birthweight (LBW) during the pandemic. There is an urgent need to protect life-saving interventions. The implementation of the Every Newborn Action Plan in 2014 by…
Read more
Skin-to-skin contact between fathers and newborns improves their physiological parameters and wakefulness.
The common practice of separating infants from their parents after a caesarean section was put into question after a study showed that the skin-to-skin contact between the fathers and the newborn infants had significant advantages in achieving their stable physiological parameters and wakefulness. Motivated by the known benefits of an early mother-infant skin-to-skin contact, a randomised controlled study was conducted to determine if this could also be the case with fathers. The goal was…
Read more
Preterm care during COVID-19 and the survival benefit of kangaroo mother care
Given the disruption of neonatal health services through the COVID-19 pandemic, a two-scenarios-analysis was conducted to weigh the risk of not implementing kangaroo mother care (KMC) among neonates with neonatal deaths from COVID-19. The undeniable survival benefit of KMC far outweighs the small risk of death due to the virus and encourage its practice. There are conflicting global guidelines on mother-newborn care during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly regarding kangaroo mother care…
Read more
Disparities in the follow-up of very preterm born children in Europe
With a letter issued in February 2021, a group of researchers presented an analysis of the cross-European disparities of routine follow-up services of children who were born very preterm (<32 weeks of gestational age (GA)). It was found that the mother’s sociodemographic characteristics and her perinatal situation were among the main factors regarding these disparities. Aiming to describe the use of follow-up services in Europe, the research team collected data from obstetric and neonatal records…
Read more
Improving thermoregulation in transported preterm infants
Infants born preterm (<37 weeks of gestation) or with a low birthweight (<2.5 kg) are at high risk for decreasing body temperature during transportation to the hospital. Hypothermia in preterm infants is a risk factor for increased mortality and morbidity (e.g. respiratory distress syndrome). Therefore, effective thermoregulation during transport is of outmost importance. In the study by Glenn et al., interventions were developed to increase the efficacy of thermoregulation in transported…
Read more
Preterm children’s long-term academic performance after adaptive computerised training
Altered brain development and academic underachievement are potential consequences of preterm birth. A recent study from Germany now showed that adaptive computerised training can increase short-term academic growth in preterm children. Low attention, working memory and mathematic scores can be the result of preterm birth, making preterm children more vulnerable to reduced academic performance. While research has shown that an adaptive working memory training (Cogmed) has no long-term benefits on school performance for preterm school-aged…
Read more
RECAP preterm: the ACTION cohort
The main idea behind the Italian ACTION (ACcess To Intensive Obstetrical and Neonatal care) follow-up project was to assess the outcomes of every very preterm birth occurring in a given geographical area, as opposed to those cared for in maternities and NICUs of tertiary hospitals only, and to identify factors that could explain such outcomes and suggest possible strategies for improvement. Thus, the initial cohort recruitment in 2003-05 and collection of perinatal data up…
Read more
PARCA-R: Screening of cognitive and language delay in preterm born infants
The standardisation on over 6000 infants of the PARCA-R for the screening of cognitive and language delay has just been published in the Lancet Child & Adolescence Health. 6000 infants at the age of 2 were tested in cognitive and language development. PARCA-R stands for Parent Report of Children’s Abilities-Revised. It is a parent completed questionnaire that can be used to assess children's cognitive and language development at 24 months of age. The PARCA-R is used as an outcome measure…
Read more
EFCNI supports study by c4c research collaboration on paracetamol in preterm babies
Since last year, EFCNI has been involved as a third party representing the voice of patients and parents in the new conect4children (c4c) consortium, a research collaboration to build a European paediatric clinical trial network that aims to facilitate the development of new drugs and other therapies for the entire paediatric population. c4c now announced that it selected its first portfolio of pan-European paediatric studies aimed at advancing the understanding of high priority medicines commonly used in babies, children, and young people in Europe.…
Read more
