Fewer than a quarter of infants exposed perinatally to hepatitis C virus (HCV) undergo testing for the virus, according to a database study.

Singing a lullaby to your newborn may seem like second nature, but therapists say singing has powerful health benefits too.

Lodge Community School students carefully sorted through mounds of thin cotton sheets, heart-shaped stickers and letters to pick items for their Valentine's Day costumes.

Either tetanus and diphtheria toxoids (Td) vaccine or tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine may be used for Td booster doses every 10 years or when indicated for tetanus prophylaxis in wound management, according to research published in the Jan. 24 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The survival of preterm babies jumped by 25 per cent after new practices were introduced in neonatal units across Canada, according to a study of nearly 51,000 infants between 2004 to 2017.

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission urged stakeholders to find ways to facilitate care coordination and unify state programs and policies to reduce the number of infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, which has risen along with the number of pregnant women with opioid use disorder. 

Researchers found that children whose mothers drank alcohol during pregnancy had lower birth weight and worse cognitive functioning, compared with those without prenatal alcohol exposure.

CDC researchers found that the overall rate of infant deaths due to birth defects in the US dropped by 10% between 2003 and 2017, with declines of 12% among whites, 11% among blacks and 4% among Hispanics during the same period.

Babies whose mothers drank alcohol and smoked after the first trimester of pregnancy had a twelvefold increased likelihood of dying from sudden infant death syndrome, compared with those without prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure, researchers reported in The Lancet's EClinicalMedicine.

A study in The Lancet that followed 8,400 low birth weight babies in India from 2015 to 2018 found "kangaroo care," or when mothers held their babies close to their bodies for more than 12 hours a day, increased babies' chance of survival as much as 30% within the first month and 25% within the first six months.

Researchers in Minnesota and Iowa have found greater risks of social and emotional problems in infants whose mothers consumed marijuana during pregnancy.

An ultrasound of infants who were exposed to the Zika virus in the womb but showed no signs of the disease could predict future risk, according to a study published online in JAMA Pediatrics. The study highlights the importance of postnatal neuroimaging for babies exposed to the virus while in their mother's womb, researchers said.

Babies whose mothers participated in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children during pregnancy had reduced odds of being born preterm, as well as a 36.6% lower mortality rate during the first year of life, compared with those whose mothers weren't given WIC benefits, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open. The findings were based on data involving infants born to more than 11 million women from 2011 to 2017.

Fathers should also be screened for perinatal depression during well-child visits, but recent guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the US Preventive Services Task Force barely mentions fathers, and clear paternal postpartum depression diagnostic criteria are lacking, according to a perspectives piece in Pediatrics. "It is time for the focus on perinatal depression within pediatrics to include fathers, too," said lead author Tova Walsh.

Researchers found that 38.5% of parents who underwent an interactive web-based intervention urging decision-making in pediatric opioid dosing and received a take-home disposal packet disposed of their children's leftover opioid medications, compared with only 19% of those in the control group.

The CDC has proposed expanding recommendations for hepatitis C testing to universal screening for all adults ages 18 and older at least once in their life.

Researchers analyzed the medical records of 798,426 children born from 2001 to 2013 and found those who were prescribed antibiotics such as sulfonamide or macrolide, cephalosporin and penicillin during infancy had increased risks of being diagnosed with allergies, including food allergies, asthma or dermatitis later in childhood. The risk of developing an allergy was highest for children who received penicillin and lowest for those treated with sulfonamides, according to the study in JAMA Pediatrics.

Researchers found that 4.6% of late preterm infants didn't pass car seat screening tests, indicating a risk for deadly breathing difficulties during car seat rides, with the highest odds of failure among those who were in both the newborn nursery and the NICU. The findings in Pediatrics also showed that many of the 24% who failed at least two tests had low oxygen levels or apnea, while 40% had to be given oxygen prior to hospital discharge.

Very low-birth-weight infants with postnatal cytomegalovirus were at increased risk for a failed hearing test, bronchopulmonary dysplasia and decreased weight for length at NICU discharge, compared with infants who did not have the virus, researchers reported in JAMA Pediatrics. Infants with CMV also had a higher risk of increased postnatal age at discharge.

Researchers found that adults born preterm who were exclusively breastfed had less profound smaller heart chambers between ages 23 to 28, compared with those who were given an exclusive formula-based diet, indicating the protective effect of breast milk against heart diseases. The findings were published in Pediatric Research.