Genetic Testing for Neonatal Epilepsy Allows Babies to Go Home Sooner

Genetic testing results in lower length of stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for infants with epilepsy, according to a study published in the journal Pediatric Neurology. The reduction in hospital stay time in babies with epilepsy who spent time in the NICU was not explained by changes in the severity of illness, birth weight or population changes in the NICU over time. These findings confirm the importance of early genetic testing for epilepsy, which allows more precise treatment and better seizure control during a critical time in brain development.

Baby detector software embedded in digital camera rivals ECG

Facial recognition is now common in adults, but University of South Australia researchers have developed software that can reliably detect a premature baby’s face in an incubator and remotely monitor its heart and breathing rates, rivalling ECG machines and even outperforming them. This is the first step in using non-contact monitoring in neonatal wards, avoiding skin tearing and potential infections from adhesive pads.x

Specialized Care Team Launched in Central Texas to Help High-Risk Expectant Mothers

To offer transport to a high level of specialty care for expectant mothers and their babies, Baylor Scott & White Health has launched the system’s first Central Texas maternal transport team.
Baylor Scott & White maternal nurses staff the team, which also includes pilots, paramedics and EMTs who will facilitate transfers of high-risk obstetrics patients via air and ground transfers from hospitals throughout the region. The maternal transport team began service May 17, transporting patients to and from facilities inside and outside of the Baylor Scott & White Health system.

Could Reducing Painful Procedures Help Premature Infants’ Brains?

Premature infants born earlier than 28 weeks gestation who experience fewer needle pokes while receiving life-saving care in the neonatal intensive care unit may have better growth of a part of the brain called the thalamus. The new study is published in the October 21, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

COVID-19 Can Be Transmitted in the Womb, Reports Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal

A baby girl in Texas – born prematurely to a mother with COVID-19 – is the strongest evidence to date that intrauterine (in the womb) transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can occur, reports The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, the official journal of The European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.