A study presented at IDWeek 2019 suggested universal screening of newborns for congenital cytomegalovirus may be the best way to determine if the infection is the cause of sensorineural hearing loss.

A study in Nature Microbiology showed that babies born very preterm who underwent antibiotic treatment for 21 months had reduced bacterial population diversity and increased antibiotic-resistant genes in their gut.

A Dartmouth Atlas study found 48% of newborns admitted to US neonatal intensive care units in 2017 had a normal birth weight, while 15% of very low birth weight babies were not cared for in Level III or IV NICUs.

A growing number of extremely tiny newborns are being sent home from the hospital with human milk for feedings when their mothers don’t produce enough milk to meet their nutritional needs, a U.S. study suggests.

US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams has a warning for pregnant women and teens when it comes to weed.

Babies in the neonatal ICU who are exposed to their mothers' voice during sleep are less likely to awaken after loud bursts of ambient noise, especially if they were born at or after 35 weeks' gestation, researchers say.

There were significant increases in infant mortality from accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (ASSB) from 1999 to 2016, according to a study recently published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal.

More than 50% of preterm infants in Washington state had not received the entire seven-vaccine series by 19 months and they were less likely to be fully vaccinated by 36 months of age, compared with term infants, a study in Pediatrics found.

Sen. Doug Jones is co-sponsoring the bipartisan Rural MOMS Act to understand the root causes of maternal mortality and to develop solutions to improve maternal care in rural America.

Eighty-five percent of children in a NICU were affected by a rotavirus outbreak, and of the 22 who met the standard for infection, 15 were unvaccinated, researchers reported in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices guidance advises against rotavirus immunization for NICU infants, and recommends first vaccine doses occur before 15 weeks of age, leaving some children in the NICU ineligible for vaccination under the guidance, and thus unprotected. An accompanying editorial calls for the age limits to be relaxed.

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In the neonatal intensive care unit, keeping fragile infants alive is the number one priority.

But new research from Washington University suggests doctors and parents should also consider the amount of background noise premature babies are hearing.

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Hospitals advised to abandon their tubing system may have been misled – news that could come as a relief to parents and health care providers of premature infants.

Protecting premature infants from a deadly intestinal disease, new research suggests, may boil down to a surprising combination: milk and bacteria.

In the midst of the "anti-vaxxer" movement comes more scientific proof that vaccines help save children's lives.

As laws around marijuana relax nationwide and the drug becomes more popular, American women are increasingly using pot during pregnancy, a new study finds.

Public health officials are applauding the Ohio House’s unanimous passage of a bill that tackles infant mortality and maternal health.

Infant respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, was associated with a significant health care burden that lasted for at least 5 years following acute infection, with the greatest effect seen in the first 2 years, according to research published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

The NICU at Gwinnett Medical Center in Georgia is installing 44 closed circuit cameras so parents can watch over their infants when they are not at the hospital. Interim clinical manager Keri Boatwright says the goal is to facilitate a connection between parents and infants.

The Massachusetts health system will soon be rolling out a telehealth program aimed at connecting rural hospitals and clinics with NICU specialists to help improve care and outcomes for its most fragile patients.

Breast milk provides many benefits for babies. And now researchers say mother's milk contains an antibody that protects premature infants from an often-deadly intestinal bacterial disease called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).