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Background. Several studies have documented cutaneous findings in neonates of various racial groups. Our purpose was to determine the frequency of birthmarks in Israeli neonates of Jewish and Arabic origin. Methods. A cohort of 1672 newborn infants under 96 hours of age were examined for the presence of birthmarks. Of these 841 (50.3%) were Jewish and 831 (49.7%) were Arab. The Jewish group was further subdivided into various ethnic groups according to parental ancestry. Results. Melanocytic brown lesions (Mongolian spots, congenital nevi, and café-au-lait spots), were more common in Arab infants. The vest majority of Jewish infants with Mongolian spots were of Asian or African ancestry. On the other hand, congenital melanocytic nevi were found only in Jewish infants of European ancestry. Vascular lesions (salmon patch and port-wine stain) in Arab neonates exhibited a female preponderance. Conclusions. Our data suggest that the prevalence of birthmarks in Israeli neonates is similar to the prevalence reported by others in white neonates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Caesarean section (CS) deliveries have increased, mostly because of patient/obstetrician preference. Although CS decreases the risk of delivery-related injuries, it increases the risk for respiratory and neurological complications. Complication rates are reportedly higher for elective CSs for term infants performed at 37-38 gestational weeks than later. We investigated this difference in an Israeli cohort. Methods: Data on all births in our medical centre during 2007-2009 were reviewed. Those on elective CSs for term infants were retrieved and divided into 'early' (37-38 gestational weeks) or 'late' (week 39 or later) groups whose epidemiological and outcome characteristics were compared. Result: Of the 12 276 births, 596 were early and 454 were late elective CSs. There were no differences in gender, ethnicity, Apgar score or length of hospital stay. Twenty-six infants from the early group and 11 infants from the late group were transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit. Within them, compared with all elective CSs, the morbidity rate was higher for the former infants than for the latter. Conclusion: Morbidity was higher among infants who were delivered at 37-38 gestational weeks by elective CS. We recommend postponing elective CSs to ≥39 weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ethnic differences in the incidence of spitting up have not been reported. The nursing team at our well-baby nursery observed that newborn infants of Ethiopian origin appeared to spit up more than the others., Objective: To determine whether there are such ethnic differences and what, if anything, is their clinical relevance., Methods: Of the 3663 enrolled infants born at the Hillel Yaffe Medical Center during the 12 month study period, 55 were of Ethiopian origin and their medical records were retrospectively surveyed. The retrieved data were compared with those of 167 randomly selected non-Ethiopian newborns (controls). Exclusion criteria were preterm delivery, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit, and congenital birth defects., Results: Newborn infants of Ethiopian origin spit up 57% more than control infants. The difference in the number of spit ups was more obvious when only the infants who spit up were compared (2.3 +/- 1.7 Ethiopian newborns vs. 1.5 +/- 0.9 controls, P=0.002), although the percentage of infants who spit up was the same in the two groups. There was no difference in weight gain, days of hospitalization, bilirubin levels or nutrition type between the groups., Conclusions: Infants of Ethiopian origin spit up more than the control newborn infants of non-Ethiopian origin, while other clinical parameters were similar. In the absence of other pathological signs, spitting up is a non-relevant clinical condition.