Neonatal Medicine News

• Feds Let Illinois Extend Postpartum Medicaid Coverage Medical professionals have called on states to institute the yearlong extension, but only Illinois has made the move thus far.
  Medscape Medical News, April 12, 2021
• Ocular Abnormalities Not Likely in Newborns of SARS-CoV-2-infected Mothers Unlike pathogens such as cytomegalovirus and Zika, SARS-CoV-2 is not likely to cause ocular problems in newborns whose mothers were infected with the virus during pregnancy, a new case series suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, April 08, 2021
• ENDO 2021 Fit-for-Fertility Program Boosts Births, Is Cost-Effective A low-intensity lifestyle intervention program improved the livebirth rate at a similar cost to that of in vitro fertilization treatment for women with obesity and infertility.
  Medscape Medical News, April 08, 2021
• Extreme Preemies With Neurodevelopmental Impairment at Age 2 May Improve by Age 10 More than one quarter of babies who were born extremely premature and display neurodevelopmental impairments at age 2 may improve significantly by age 10, according to a new study.
  Reuters Health Information, April 06, 2021
• Pediatricians Call on Biden to Overturn Trump Neonatal Care Order Pediatric bioethicists are calling for President Joe Biden to revoke a Trump Administration executive order that restricts physicians' ability to withhold therapies from extremely premature newborns.
  Reuters Health Information, April 02, 2021
• Six Pregnancy Complications Flag Later Heart Disease Risk Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and other adverse outcomes are associated with an increased risk for later CVD and require early prevention efforts, a new American Heart Association statement says.
  Medscape Medical News, April 01, 2021
• Small Amounts of Caffeine May Reduce Neonatal Size For pregnant women, just half a cup of coffee a day may reduce neonatal birth size and body weight, according to a prospective study involving more than 2,500 women.
  Medscape Medical News, March 29, 2021
• Preterm Infant Supine Sleep Positioning Becoming More Common Non-Hispanic Black preterm infants were 39%-56% less likely to sleep on their backs than were non-Hispanic White preterm infants.
  Medscape Medical News, March 26, 2021
• Maternal COVID-19 Vaccination Protects Fetus, Infants Pregnant and breastfeeding women who receive an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine develop a strong immune response and produce antibodies that can transfer to the fetus/newborn through the placenta and breast milk.
  Medscape Medical News, March 25, 2021
• Newborns Could Develop Fetal Inflammatory Syndrome From Mothers With COVID-19 Throughout the pandemic, doctors have found that pregnant women who contract COVID-19 may be able to pass the infection to their babies. In a new case study, doctors in Kansas City report that newborns could develop a fetal inflammatory response syndrome associated with the virus.
  Reuters Health Information, March 19, 2021
• Injured Purkinje Cells Implicated in Preemies' Locomotor Learning Deficits Injury to Purkinje cells during fetal and early postnatal life is likely responsible for locomotor learning deficits in very premature infants, researchers say.
  Reuters Health Information, March 19, 2021
• Baby Born to Partially Vaccinated Mom Has COVID-19 Antibodies The mother, a healthcare worker in Florida, developed COVID-19 antibodies after she received the vaccine. Testing showed that the antibodies passed through the placenta to the baby.
  WebMD Health News, March 17, 2021
• WHO Urges Healthworkers to Allow Lifesaving Mother-Baby Contact The COVID-19 pandemic is severely affecting the care of sick or premature newborn babies, with many being unnecessarily separated from their mothers and put at risk of death or long-term health problems, global health experts said on Tuesday.
  Reuters Health Information, March 16, 2021
• Preterm Birth Rate Drops During COVID-19 Pandemic in Tennessee Fewer women in Tennessee delivered preterm babies while stay-at-home orders were in effect due to the COVID-19 pandemic than was typical for the same period in previous years, a new study finds.
  Reuters Health Information, March 15, 2021
• SMFM 2021 Pregnant Patients With Severe COVID at Higher Complications Risk The study included outcomes for the largest multistate cohort of pregnant patients with COVID-19 outside of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking.
  Medscape Medical News, March 15, 2021
• Hong Kong's Tough COVID-19 Rules See Babies Isolated, Families Cramped in Tiny Spaces Families in Asia's financial hub of Hong Kong are suffering isolation and trauma after strict coronavirus rules have led to babies being separated from parents and those with newborns herded into tiny quarantine quarters for up to 14 days.
  Reuters Health Information, March 15, 2021
• Obesity: A 'Double Hit' in Pregnant Women With Heart Disease Maternal obesity may prove to be the Achilles' heel of sustainable national efforts to reduce maternal mortality and improve health equity, observers say.
  Medscape Medical News, March 10, 2021
• 'Reassuring' Data on COVID-19 Vaccines in Pregnancy The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines appear safe for pregnant women based on data from the CDC's surveillance programs.
  Medscape Medical News, March 10, 2021
• Neonatal Wearable Device Monitors Jaundice in Real Time Japanese researchers have developed a small, light, wearable device to measure jaundice and other vital signs in newborns, according to a new report.
  Reuters Health Information, March 09, 2021
• COVID-19 Isolation and an Infant's Immune System "Newborns are highly susceptible to illnesses," she says. "They don't have much of an immune system of their own, so even pre-pandemic, we advised people to be very careful to germ exposure with newborns."
  WebMD Health News, March 09, 2021