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Effective health communication between healthcare providers and patients is a cornerstone of quality healthcare. It underpins trust, comprehension, and patient-informed care. Robust research shows that effective communication, including the use of text messaging for communication can improve maternal/fetal and neonatal outcomes and patient satisfaction, particularly among vulnerable patients. Health information privacy laws that do not evolve with technological advances can inadvertently create barriers to effective health communication, reinforcing perinatal disparities. This is particularly true regarding maternal and child health, where the use of text messaging for patient communication has the potential to make a substantial impact on health disparities. This article explores the complex interplay between health information privacy laws and text messaging, highlighting challenges and examining potential solutions. It stresses the need for consistent health information privacy laws that protect the privacy security of health information for pregnant patients and new mothers, while also aligning with evolving communication technologies., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Hypothesis: Increased social distancing was associated with a lower incidence of extremely preterm live births (EPLB) during the initial COVID-19 pandemic period., Study Design: Prospective study at the NICHD Neonatal Research Network sites comparing EPLB (22 0/7 -28 6/7 weeks) and extremely preterm intrapartum stillbirths (EPIS) rates during the pandemic period (March-July, weeks 9-30 of 2020) with the reference period (same weeks in 2018 and 2019), correlating with state-specific social distancing index (SDI)., Results: EPLB and EPIS percentages did not significantly decrease (1.58-1.45%, p = 0.07, and 0.08-0.06%, p = 0.14, respectively). SDI was not significantly correlated with percent change of EPLB (CC = 0.29, 95% CI = -0.12, 0.71) or EPIS (CC = -0.23, 95% CI = -0.65, 0.18). Percent change in mean gestational age was positively correlated with SDI (CC = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.07, 0.91)., Conclusions: Increased social distancing was not associated with change in incidence of EPLB but was associated with a higher gestational age of extremely preterm births., Gov Id: Generic Database: NCT00063063., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: To determine the impact of neuroprotection interventions bundle on the incidence of severe brain injury or early death (intraventricular hemorrhage grade 3/4 or death by 7 days or ventriculomegaly or cystic periventricular leukomalacia on 1-month head ultrasound, primary composite outcome) in very preterm (27 0/7 to ≤ 29 6/7 weeks gestational age) infants., Study Design: Prospective quality improvement initiative, from April 2017-September 2019, with neuroprotection interventions bundle including cerebral NIRS, TcCO 2 , and HeRO monitoring-based management algorithm, indomethacin prophylaxis, protocolized bicarbonate and inotropes use, noise reduction, and neutral positioning., Result: There was a decrease in the incidence of the primary composite outcome in the intervention period on unadjusted (N = 11/99, pre-intervention to N = 0/127, intervention period, p < 0.001) and adjusted analysis (adjusted for birthweight and Apgar score <5 at 5 min, aOR = 0.042, 95% CI = 0.003-0.670, p = 0.024)., Conclusions: Neuroprotection interventions bundle was associated with significant decrease in severe brain injury or early death in very preterm infants., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Objective: To compare skin-to-skin care (SSC) and oral sucrose for preterm neonatal pain control., Methods: Preterm neonates (28-36 weeks gestation) requiring heel-stick were eligible. In group-A, SSC was given 15-min before first heel-stick, and sucrose was given 2-min before second heel-stick. In group-B, the sequence was reversed. Blinded premature infant pain profile (PIPP) score assessment was done at 0, 1, and 5-min of heel-stick by two assessors., Results: A hundred neonates were enrolled. The inter-rater agreement for the PIPP score was good. The behavior state component was significantly lower in the sucrose group at all assessment points. The mean (SD) difference between 1-min and 0 min was similar [SSC 3.58(3.16) vs. sucrose 4.09(3.82), p = 0.24] between groups. The PIPP score attained baseline values at 5-min in both groups., Conclusion: Albeit sucrose indicated instantaneous action, SSC and sucrose have comparable clinical efficacy for preterm neonatal pain control. Multisensory stimulation with SSC may result in a higher behavioral state component of the PIPP score.