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• Weekly Check-Up: Pain Relief For Preemies

  Parents and nurses report that one of the hardest things about having a premature baby in neonatal intensive care is the number of invasive and painful medical procedures the babies have to endure. However, a new study has one method for easing some of that preemie pain, and it's pretty simple and cost-effective, if you ask me. So what's the miracle way to soothe the littlest infants? Read More... Posted Apr 24 2008, 04:32 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: research study, newborns, babies, preemies, hugs, care, neonatal, premature infants, kangaroo mother care, preterm, cuddle, snuggle

• Maternity Leave and Sick Newborns

  Here's the Sophie's Choice of parental leave: use up all your leave time to be with your preemie newborns at the hospital or save it for after they get home? A federal employee in Washington, D.C., had to make that decision and wound up going back to work two weeks (two weeks!) after giving birth.   Read More... Posted Mar 12 2008, 04:03 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: newborns, NICU, preemies, Washington Post, maternity leave, family medical leave act, family leave laws

• Preemie Catches on Fire

  This is one of those stories where the sensible side of your brain reminds you that it's a rare tragedy, most likely won't happen to your child, you're safe, you're safe, you're safe. The crazy side of your brain, though, thinks you and yours are surely the next victim. In a Minnesota hospital, a baby born three weeks early, was wearing an oxygen hood -- a device that fits over the face and supplies extra oxygen -- when something caused a fire to ignite. Read More... Posted Jan 24 2008, 01:59 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: hospitals, hospital, preemie babies, preemie, preemies, burns, hospitalization, burning, accidents, incubator

• From 3.5 Lb. Preemie to 268 Lb. Superstar

  From the sports world comes this profile in the NY Times about Texas A&M tailback Jorvorskie Lane.  Born more than a month premature, he weighed under four pounds at birth and because his heart and lungs were not fully developed, he was hospitalized for the first several weeks of his life.  Relatives say he was so small that they could hold him in the palm of their hand! Now, Lane (nicknamed "The J-Train") has blossomed into one of the nation's top college football players. At his heaviest last season, Lane weighed 282 pounds. With the season opener five weeks away, Lane now weighs 268 pounds.  However, despite his size, he is considered one of the best athletes in college football.  He's fast nimble, and athletic.  While in junior high, Lane weighed 125 pounds and wanted to be the next Michael Jordan but he hit a growth spurt and started adding weight quickly.  As a high school freshman, he weighed 230 pounds. I know doctors always tell parents with preemies not to worry because their children will eventually catch up in size and weight.  I guess the J-Train proves that it's true! Posted Jul 27 2007, 03:49 PM by MetroDad with | with no comments Filed under: preemies, Jovorskie Lane

• Trading Spaces: Nurses Try "Preemie For a Day"

  Ever wonder what it's like to be a tiny, vulnerable newborn?  Some nurses in Illinois are finding out with an innovative new program that allows them to experience some of the abrupt changes that take place for the tiniest babies in the moments after their birth. The nurses are learning to better simulate the soothing world of the womb for preemies in the days following their birth so that they can weather the transition from a warm and relatively quiet uterus to the bustling world of the NICU.  Nurses drink from bottles and suck on pacifiers after having lain in a fetal position to simulate some of the sensory input a preemie experiences.  (I am wondering if there aren't some nutjobs out there who would pay serious money to see this?) This sounds like a good attempt and is probably the best we can really do to simulate a baby's experience but I have to wonder if it is even possible to remotely understand everything that's going on within a tiny baby during those days. Posted Mar 01 2007, 06:17 PM by Karen Murphy with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: birth, hospitals, babies, NICU, preemies, nurses