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Primary reflexes are highly stereotypical, automatic movements comprising much of the motor repertoire of newborns. The current study examined rates of presence of five primary reflexes (snout, visual rooting, sucking, tactile rooting, and grasp) and variables predictive of their persistence for children with ASD (n = 35), developmental disability (n = 30), and typically developing children matched to participants with ASD on chronological age (n = 30). There was a higher prevalence of snout and visual rooting reflex among children with ASD. These data suggest that the persistence of primary reflexes holds promise as a biomarker for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Each year, nursing schools spend more on classroom supplies at the nursing lab to help nursing students develop their practical skills before clinical internships. To teach nursing students how to prepare for their experience in the clinic, the nursing school needs to purchase a variety of teaching tools. The objective of this study was to create a low-cost model of a newborn and umbilical cord so that nursing students could practice cutting severing newborns' umbilical cords in the nursing laboratory until they were proficient before entering the delivery department to care for newborns. The newborn and umbilical cord in a low-cost model was created in association with the nursing and engineering faculties. We created the differences between the original newborn model and the newborn and umbilical cord in a low-cost model: The newborn and umbilical cord in a low-cost model can move its limbs and use the remote to control the operation, in contrast to the original newborn model which can't move and doesn't cry. Data were collected from expert interviews and newborn and umbilical cord model tests using an assessment form. Data were analyzed using Descriptive statistics and content analysis. The newborn and umbilical cord model is made from a hose that is cheaper and simple to cut, it is like a real umbilical cord so we can make our mannequins at a very low cost and effective. Newborn and umbilical cord in a low-cost model can be used in practice. Reduce the cost of ordering teaching supplies.

The occupational therapy doctorate degree requires a capstone experience and project to be completed within a specific occupational therapy (OT)-related setting. The doctoral capstone experience and project can be difficult to complete in the highly specialized Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This paper provides a sample outline of the doctoral capstone experience and project in the NICU. The NANT Core Competencies, written by the National Association of Neonatal Therapists Professional Collaborative, were utilized as a guideline to track student progress and ensure understanding of neonatal therapy topics. This paper follows one student's doctoral capstone experience and project in the NICU while mentored by an occupational therapist. Learning objectives related to utilizing the NANT Core Competencies, gaining clinical skills, and participating in program development were created. The site mentor trained, supported, and educated the student in the NICU while monitoring her progress during the fourteen weeks. Overall, the student successfully completed all objectives. This paper provides an example of the doctoral capstone experience and project in the NICU utilizing the NANT Core Competencies to support the mentor-student relationship and student learning with educational topics provided in the competencies guiding the capstone experience. With details including student progress, weekly mentor-student meetings, and roles/responsibilities of the student and mentor, this paper serves as a resource and guideline for OT faculty as well as potential mentors of occupational therapy doctorate students in the NICU setting. Additionally, this paper highlights the feasibility of the completion of the OT doctoral capstone in the NICU.

Currently, Developmental scales for children aged 0-6 years are a particularly valuable resource for assessing developmental milestones in children. Most scales are developed based on a broad conceptual framework, and their metric validation is insufficient and of low quality. The aim of this systematic review is to analyse the psychometric quality of these tests and identify aspects in need of improvement. To this end, the PRISMA methodology and the WOS and ProQuest databases were used to search for articles addressing this topic. A total of 680 articles were identified, of which 72 were selected using the established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results indicate a scarcity of independent studies on the statistical measurement of the scales. The selected articles are very heterogeneous and validate these tests using adaptations of common metrics. Most perform cross-cultural, concurrent, and prognostic validations of the tests. We conclude that the quality of the scale metrics and other common aspects of these tests need to be improved, particularly sample sparsity and heterogeneity, as well as cultural biases. We underline the importance of applying for advances in metrics for the construction of developmental scales and recommend the use of computerised versions to improve their ease of use and efficiency.

Sustained attention (SA) is an endogenous form of attention that emerges in infancy and reflects cognitive engagement and processing. SA is critical for learning and has been measured using different methods during screen-based and interactive contexts involving social and nonsocial stimuli. How SA differs by measurement method, context, and stimuli across development in infancy is not fully understood. This 2-year longitudinal study examines attention using one measure of overall looking behavior and three measures of SA--mean look duration, percent time in heart rate-defined SA, and heart rate change during SA--in N = 53 infants from 1 to 24 months across four unique task conditions: social videos, nonsocial videos, social interactions (face-to-face play), and nonsocial interactions (toy engagement). Results suggest that developmental changes in attention differ by measurement method, task context (screen or interaction), and task stimulus (social or nonsocial). During social interactions, overall looking and look durations declined after age 3-4 months, whereas heart rate-defined attention measures remained stable. All SA measures were greater for videos than for live interaction conditions throughout the first 6 months, but SA to social and nonsocial stimuli within each task context were equivalent. In the second year of life, SA measured with look durations was greater for social videos compared to other conditions, heart rate-defined SA was greater for social videos compared to nonsocial interactions, and heart rate change during SA was similar across conditions. Together, these results suggest that different measures of attention to social and nonsocial stimuli may reflect unique developmental processes and are important to compare and consider together, particularly when using infant attention as a marker of typical or atypical development.

Background: The adult reading history questionnaire (ARHQ) is frequently used in research on adult dyslexia and family risk for dyslexia. However, this measure is lengthy (23 items), reducing its applicability in studies with extensive assessment batteries. Methods: We identified the best-performing ARHQ items in a sample of 396 Finnish adults using exploratory factor analysis and item response theory. Consequently, we validated the brief questionnaire in independent Finnish and Dutch samples by comparing its performance with that of the complete questionnaire. We also evaluated how the scores on the questionnaires related to the scores on direct adult reading assessments in the Finnish samples. Finally, we tested how predictive parental questionnaires were of children's skills in the Dutch and one of the Finnish samples. Results: Five items were selected to construct the short version of ARHQ. All of them relate to childhood/adolescent reading difficulties rather than current adult skills. The scores of the complete ARHQ significantly correlated with those of the abbreviated version in all samples. Moreover, in one of the samples, direct reading assessment scores had a stronger correlation with the short ARHQ than with the full version. Additionally, across all three samples parental scores on the short ARHQ were at least as predictive of children's reading skills as the complete ARHQ. Conclusions: The short ARHQ proved to be on a par with the complete version in its usefulness for identifying adults with dyslexia. Future research should investigate whether the five selected items can effectively serve as a brief screening measure for adults with dyslexia in languages other than Finnish and Dutch.

Purpose: Infants prenatally exposed to opioids exhibit withdrawal symptomology that introduce physiological noise and can impact newborn hearing screening results. This study compared the referral rate and physiological noise interpreted by number of trials rejected due to artifact on initial newborn hearing screenings of infants with prenatal opioid exposure (POE) and infants with no opioid exposure (NOE). Furthermore, within the POE group, it examined the relationship of referral rates with severity of withdrawal symptomology, and with maternal and infant risk factors. Method: This study used a retrospective cohort design of electronic medical records from six delivery hospitals in South-Central Appalachia. Newborn hearing screenings were conducted using automated auditory brainstem response (ABR) for 334 infants with POE and 226 infants with NOE. Severity of withdrawal symptomology was measured using the Modified Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring Tool, which includes observation of behaviors that introduce physiological noise. Results: There was no significant difference in newborn hearing screening referral rate between infants with POE and infants with NOE. Referral rate was not affected by maternal or infant risk factors. Infants with POE had statistically significant higher artifact (defined as rejected ABR sweeps) than infants with NOE. There was a strong positive correlation between Finnegan scores and artifact but not referral rates. Sensitivity and specificity analysis indicated artifact decreased substantially after Day 4 of life. Conclusions: Referral rates of infants with POE were similar to those of infants with NOE. Nevertheless, the withdrawal symptomology of infants with POE introduces physiological noise reflected as artifact on ABR, which can affect efficiency of newborn hearing screenings.

Purpose: 360° immersive videos may be useful in procedure-based healthcare settings. We hypothesized that extended reality (XR) neonatal intubation education is a feasible alternative to live demonstration in skill and knowledge transfer. Methods: This was a prospective single center evaluation of an educational XR intubation video using Premature Anne™ (Laerdal Medical, Stavanger, Norway) comparing to a live demonstration. Participants were randomly allocated to either live demonstration or XR group. Each group received 20 min of teaching from the pediatric respiratory care education specialist, either in person or in video format. Intubation success, knowledge and skill acquisition were measured using a questionnaire and checklist. Results: We had a total of 23 participants, XR (n = 11) and live demonstration (n = 12). The groups were heterogeneous in experience level.The XR group was successful at intubating 73% of the time (n = 8), which was not significantly different to the live demonstration group 58% (n = 7) (p = 0.667). For patients who achieved intubation, there was no difference between groups in the mean time to successful intubation; 98 s (SD 73) for the XR group and 65 s (SD 22) for the live demonstration group (p = 0.685).When comparing scores between groups there were no statistically significant differences regarding knowledge scores (p = 0.514), skill scores (p = 0.826) and total scores (p = 0.926). Conclusion: These preliminary findings indicated no significant differences between the XR and live demonstration groups in terms of intubation success, knowledge acquisition, skill performance, total scores or time to successful intubation.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of biological nurturing on breastfeeding success and self-efficacy in primiparous women. This randomized controlled study was conducted with 130 mothers who had a caesarean section (65 experimental, 65 control). However, it was determined that experiment group had statistically higher LATCH score average than control group in all of the measurements at 8th, 24th and 48th hours after labour (p < 0.001). According to LATCH average scores, it was determined that eta-squared value was 0.77 (high impact level) for experiment group and 0.15 (high impact level) for control group. It was determined that BSES post-test total average score was 60.74 ± 6.75 in experiment group and 45.23 ± 10.59 in control group and this difference was statistically significant (t = 9.955; p = 0.000). It was determined that biological nurturing significantly increased breastfeeding success and self-efficacy in primiparous women.

The study aimed to compare the effects of breastfeeding education and skin-to-skin contact on breastfeeding efficiency and maternal attachment. This study was a three-group randomized controlled study. This study was conducted with 92 women in a delivery room in Türkiye between October 2021 and May 2022. The study consists of continuous early SSC (Group A), breastfeeding education (Group B), and control groups (Group C). Group A received SSC education and Group B received structured breastfeeding education. The groups were homogeneous in terms of sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics (p > 0.05). The levels of maternal attachment and breastfeeding activity of mothers in Group A were effective (p < 0.001). While SSC education was more effective than breastfeeding education in terms of these variables (p < 0.001), no significant difference was found in the control group. These findings may encourage professional support in enhancing breastfeeding efficiency and maternal attachment.

Drug and alcohol neonate simulators were used to highlight the effects of substance misuse on prenatal development within lifespan development modules to 61 Psychology undergraduates and 12 sixth-form Health and Social Care students. A mixed method approach was used considering both knowledge development and perceptions of experiential hands-on learning. Student knowledge of the effects of drugs and alcohol on prenatal development was assessed before and after an interactive session on teratogenesis utilising neonate simulators demonstrating these effects. With this experiential learning approach, the statistical analysis combining both groups showed increased knowledge after the interactive session, and the students perceived this enhanced understanding to be a direct result of hands-on interaction with the neonate simulators. The researchers encourage the use of neonate simulators as good practice that can be effectively incorporated into the psychology and other health-related teaching contexts to facilitate knowledge on teratogenesis.

Parents are often a good source of information, introducing children to how the world around them is described and explained in terms of cause-and-effect relations. Parents also vary in their speech, and these variations can predict children's later language skills. Being born preterm might be related to such parent-child interactions. The present longitudinal study investigated parental causal language use in Turkish, a language with particular causative morphology, across three time points when preterm and full-term children were 14-, 20-, and 26-months-old. In general, although preterm children heard fewer words overall, there were no differences between preterm and full-term groups in terms of the proportion of causal language input. Parental causal language input increased from 20 to 26 months, while the amount of overall verbal input remained the same. These findings suggest that neonatal status can influence the amount of overall parental talk, but not parental use of causal language.

Fetal hearing experiences shape the linguistic and musical preferences of neonates. From the very first moment after birth, newborns prefer their native language, recognize their mother's voice, and show a greater responsiveness to lullabies presented during pregnancy. Yet, the neural underpinnings of this experience inducing plasticity have remained elusive. Here we recorded the frequency-following response (FFR), an auditory evoked potential elicited to periodic complex sounds, to show that prenatal music exposure is associated to enhanced neural encoding of speech stimuli periodicity, which relates to the perceptual experience of pitch. FFRs were recorded in a sample of 60 healthy neonates born at term and aged 12-72 hours. The sample was divided into two groups according to their prenatal musical exposure (29 daily musically exposed; 31 not-daily musically exposed). Prenatal exposure was assessed retrospectively by a questionnaire in which mothers reported how often they sang or listened to music through loudspeakers during the last trimester of pregnancy. The FFR was recorded to either a /da/ or an /oa/ speech-syllable stimulus. Analyses were centered on stimuli sections of identical duration (113 ms) and fundamental frequency (F[subscript 0] = 113 Hz). Neural encoding of stimuli periodicity was quantified as the FFR spectral amplitude at the stimulus F[subscript 0]. Data revealed that newborns exposed daily to music exhibit larger spectral amplitudes at F[subscript 0] as compared to not-daily musically-exposed newborns, regardless of the eliciting stimulus. Our results suggest that prenatal music exposure facilitates the tuning to human speech fundamental frequency, which may support early language processing and acquisition.

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is the term used to describe newborn experiences of withdrawal after exposure to opioids or other substances in utero (Kondili & Duryea, 2019). An urgent need exists for trained practitioners to serve children with NAS and their families (e.g., Gregory, 2014; Hancock et al., 2017; Health care Cost and Utilization Project [HCUP], 2019; Patrick et al., 2016). To address this need, three Division of Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children Recommended Practices (RPs) can support practitioners' work with families of children with NAS (DEC, 2014): (1) Family-centered practice (DEC RP F1). "Practitioners build trusting and respectful partnerships with families through interactions that are sensitive and responsive to cultural, linguistic, and socio-economic diversity" (DEC, 2014, p. 10); (2) Transition (DEC RP TR2). "Practitioners use a variety of planned and timely strategies with the child and family before, during, and after transitions to support successful adjustment and positive outcomes for both the child and family" (DEC, 2014, p. 16); and (3) Instruction 13 (DEC RP INS13). "Practitioners use coaching or consultation strategies with primary caregivers or other adults to facilitate positive adult-child interactions and instruction intentionally designed to promote child learning and development" (DEC, 2014, p. 13). To support practitioners' services to children with NAS and their families, this article focuses on their interactions with families during the first phase of a child's life, the time from the child's birth to the transition to home. The article includes current information on NAS and describes how each of the related DEC RPs inform best practice strategies for practitioners. It concludes with a list of multiple resources available for practitioners.

We examine how increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities impacted newborn health and prenatal care utilization in North Carolina around the time Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act was first being implemented within the state. Focusing on administrative data between 2004 and 2006, we conduct difference-indifferences and triple-difference case-control regression analysis. Pregnancies were classified by levels of potential exposure to immigration enforcement depending on parental nativity and educational attainment. Contrast groups were foreign-born parents residing in nonadopting counties and all US-born non-Hispanic parents. The introduction of the program was estimated to decrease birth weight by 58.54 grams (95% confidence interval [CI], -83.52 to -33.54) with effects likely following from reduced intrauterine growth. These results are shown to coexist with a worsening in the timing of initiation and frequency of prenatal care received. Since birth outcomes influence health, education, and earnings trajectories, our findings suggest that the uptick in ICE activities can have large socioeconomic costs over US-born citizens.

Prosody is the fundamental organizing principle of spoken language, carrying lexical, morphosyntactic, and pragmatic information. It, therefore, provides highly relevant input for language development. Are infants sensitive to this important aspect of spoken language early on? In this study, we asked whether infants are able to discriminate well-formed utterance-level prosodic contours from ill-formed, backward prosodic contours at birth. This deviant prosodic contour was obtained by time-reversing the original one, and super-imposing it on the otherwise intact segmental information. The resulting backward prosodic contour was thus unfamiliar to the infants and ill-formed in French. We used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in 1-3-day-old French newborns (n = 25) to measure their brain responses to well-formed contours as standards and their backward prosody counterparts as deviants in the frontal, temporal, and parietal areas bilaterally. A cluster-based permutation test revealed greater responses to the Deviant than to the Standard condition in right temporal areas. These results suggest that newborns are already capable of detecting utterance-level prosodic violations at birth, a key ability for breaking into the native language, and that this ability is supported by brain areas similar to those in adults.

Since speech is a continuous stream with no systematic boundaries between words, how do pre-verbal infants manage to discover words? A proposed solution is that they might use the transitional probability between adjacent syllables, which drops at word boundaries. Here, we tested the limits of this mechanism by increasing the size of the word-unit to four syllables, and its automaticity by testing asleep neonates. Using markers of statistical learning in neonates' EEG, compared to adult behavioral performances in the same task, we confirmed that statistical learning is automatic enough to be efficient even in sleeping neonates. We also revealed that: (1) Successfully tracking transition probabilities (TP) in a sequence is not sufficient to segment it. (2) Prosodic cues, as subtle as subliminal pauses, enable to recover words segmenting capacities. (3) Adults' and neonates' capacities to segment streams seem remarkably similar despite the difference of maturation and expertise. Finally, we observed that learning increased the overall similarity of neural responses across infants during exposure to the stream, providing a novel neural marker to monitor learning. Thus, from birth, infants are equipped with adult-like tools, allowing them to extract small coherent word-like units from auditory streams, based on the combination of statistical analyses and auditory parsing cues.

We integrated data from a newborn hearing screening database and a preschool disability database to examine the relationship between newborn click evoked auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and developmental disabilities. This sample included children with developmental delay (n = 2992), speech impairment (SI, n = 905), language impairment (n = 566), autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 370), and comparison children (n = 128,181). We compared the phase of the ABR waveform, a measure of sound processing latency, across groups. Children with SI and children with ASD had greater newborn ABR phase values than both the comparison group and the developmental delay group. Newborns later diagnosed with SI or ASD have slower neurological responses to auditory stimuli, suggesting sensory differences at birth.

This study explores the extent to which medical and sociodemographic variables and cognitive and language skills are associated with executive function (EF) skills in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) graduates at 24 months of adjusted age. We explored cognitive, language, and EF skills in 42 NICU graduates who participated in a NICU follow-up programme clinic. The association between risk factors and EF and the completion of the EF assessment were explored. Correlational analyses revealed that child gender was associated with EF scores. Analyses revealed cognitive skills, language skills, and multiple gestational births were associated with EF assessment completion. Our findings are among the first to examine EF skills in NICU graduates as young as 24 months of age using a multidimensional, child completed measure. Implications for NICU follow up programmes, the consideration of early interventions aimed to positively affect EF skills, and considerations for future studies are discussed.

This study aimed to compare the effect of using white noise, embracing, and facilitated tucking on heel lance blood sampling in newborns. The study was a randomized controlled trial. Newborns totalling 160 were included in the study. The primary outcomes were evaluated pain and crying durations before, during, and after the procedure. The secondary outcomes were evaluated as physiological changes before, during, and after the procedure. The crying durations during and after the heel lance blood sampling were found significantly lower in the newborns in the embracing group compared to those in the other groups (p < 0.05). The average NIPS score of the newborns who were embraced by their mothers during (3.67 ± 2.76) and after (1.55 ± 2.6) heel lance blood sampling was found significantly lower than the other groups (p < 0.05). Maternal embracing during and after the heel lance blood sampling procedure may be effective in reducing crying duration and pain level in newborns.

This study aims to determine the effects of kangaroo care at birth on exclusively breastfeeding, infant growth and development according to attachment theory. The study is a randomized controlled trial. The sample of the study consisted of 132 pregnant women between 36 and 38 gestational weeks. Kangaroo care group received 'kangaroo care and breastfeeding training' and practiced kangaroo care at birth. The control group received routine care. Mothers' attachment levels, exclusively breastfeeding duration for six months, growth and development parameters were evaluated for nine months. A statistically significant difference was found between the groups in exclusive breastfeeding duration (KCG: 5.22 mo ± 1.18 mo; CG: 3.47 mo ± 1.51 mo), growth parameters of infants and mothers' attachment scale mean scores for nine months (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between development parameters of the infants (p > 0.05). It was found that kangaroo care had a positive effect on exclusively breastfeeding and baby's growth.

Mothers who are in more sensitive and in a different state in the postpartum period may think that the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the health of their babies. This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between the COVID-19 fears of mothers in the postpartum period and their mother-infant bonding and breastfeeding self-efficacy levels. This descriptive study included 258 mothers who had given birth at a state hospital in Turkey. The data were collected an information form, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale, the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale and analyzed. It was found that the mothers had moderate COVID-19 fear levels, they did not experience mother-infant bonding problems, and their breastfeeding self-efficacy levels were high. There was a negative relationship between the COVID-19 fear scores and breastfeeding self-efficacy scores. It may be recommended to provide education programs the relationships between breastfeeding, mother-infant bonding, and COVID-19 on mothers.

Perinatal depression/anxiety is a significant concern for mothers of children with Down syndrome. This is influenced by the way the Down syndrome diagnosis is shared with parents. This study examined social media posts from mothers regarding experiences of the birth of their child with Down syndrome. Forty-three total stories were coded using thematic content analysis. Results highlighted the experiences of mother's who received a diagnosis of Down syndrome for their newborn. Two themes were found with relevant subthemes (i.e., receiving the diagnosis--mother's intuition, confirmation of the diagnosis, influence of potential health concerns, initial emotions, impact of the medical professional; Processing the diagnosis--life-altering, child not meeting expectations, reframing the diagnosis, impact of partner and others). Findings highlight the need for medical personnel to understand this identity-changing process, as perinatal depression/anxiety looks different for these mothers. There is also a need to help them engage in services accordingly.

Simulation practices are growing in both popularity and necessity within speech pathology programs. Simulation use can serve to not only minimize client risk but to increase student confidence and competence prior to patient contact, particularly with low incidence or medically fragile patients. This paper describes and reflects on four individual simulation experiences within one graduate speech language pathology program and their outcomes. The use of both simulated patients and mannequin training resulted in an increase in students' perception of knowledge and confidence in their clinical skills with medical patients.

Training through simulation in neonatology relies on sophisticated simulation devices that give realistic feedback to trainees during simulated scenarios. It aims at training highly specialised medical teams in established operational skills, timely clinical manoeuvres, and successful synergy with other professionals. For effective teaching, it is essential to tailor simulation to trainees' emotional status and communication abilities (human factors), which in turn affect their interaction with the equipment, the environment, and the rest of the team. These factors are crucial to achieving optimal timing and cooperation during a clinical intervention, to the point that they can determine the success of a complex operation such as neonatal resuscitation. Ineffective teams perform in a slow and/or poorly coordinated way and therefore jeopardise positive outcomes. Expert trainers consider human factors as crucial as technical skills. In this context, new technology can help measure learning improvement by quantitatively analysing verbal communication within a medical team. For example, Artificial Intelligence models can work on audio recordings, and draw from extensive historical archives, to extract useful human-factor related information for the trainers. In this study, we present an automatic workflow that supports training through simulation in neonatology by automatically detecting dialogue segments of a simulation session with potentially ineffective communication between team members due to anger, stress, fear, or misunderstandings. Rather than working on audio transcriptions, the workflow analyses syllabic-scale (100-200 ms) spoken dialogue energy and intonation. It uses cluster analysis to identify potentially ineffective communication and extracts the most important related words after audio transcription. Performance is measured against a gold standard containing annotations of 79 minutes of audio recordings from neonatal simulations, in Italian, under different noise conditions (from 4.63 to 14.17 SNR). Our workflow achieves a detection accuracy of 64% and a fair agreement with the gold standard in a challenging context for a speech-processing system, where a commercial automatic speech recogniser reaches just a 9.37% sentence accuracy. The workflow also identifies viable words for trainers to conduct the debriefing session, and can be easily extended to other languages and applications in healthcare. We consider it a promising first step towards introducing new technology to support training through simulation centred on human factors.

Infants born after fetal growth restriction (FGR)--an obstetric condition defined as the failure to achieve the genetic growth potential--are prone to neurodevelopmental delays, with language being one of the major affected areas. Yet, while verbal comprehension and expressive language impairments have been observed in FGR infants, children and even adults, specific related impairments at birth, such as in the ability to encode the sounds of speech, necessary for language acquisition, remain to be disclosed. Here, we used the frequency-following response (FFR), a brain potential correlate of the neural phase locking to complex auditory stimuli, to explore the encoding of speech sounds in FGR neonates. Fifty-three neonates born with FGR and 48 controls born with weight adequate-for-gestational age (AGA) were recruited. The FFR was recorded to the consonant-vowel stimulus (/da/) during sleep and quantified as the spectral amplitude to the fundamental frequency of the syllable and its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The outcome was available in 45 AGA and 51 FGR neonates, yielding no differences for spectral amplitudes. However, SNR was strongly attenuated in the FGR group compared to the AGA group at the vowel region of the stimulus. These findings suggest that FGR population present a deficit in the neural pitch tracking of speech sounds already present at birth. Our results pave the way for future research on the potential clinical use of the FFR in this population, so that if confirmed, a disrupted FFR recorded at birth may help deriving FGR neonates at risk for postnatal follow-ups.

Several conditions related to serious difficulty in initiating and maintaining breastfeeding in neonates with Down syndrome are described in the literature. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of breastfeeding in neonates with Down syndrome, as well as the reasons for not breastfeeding, through a systematic literature review by searching MEDLINE via PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Embase via Elsevier, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases. Sixteen studies were included with a total sample size of 2022 children with Down syndrome. The frequency of exclusive breastfeeding was 31.6-55.4%, with five studies reporting breastfeeding for longer than 6 months. Breastfeeding from birth was present for 48-92.5% of the children with Down syndrome in six studies. Two studies reported that around 50% and 23.3% of the children with Down syndrome were never breastfed, and rates of breastfeeding in infants with Down syndrome were lower than those in controls in three studies. The reasons for not breastfeeding or cessation of breastfeeding were associated with Down syndrome-specific challenges, maternal reasons, and healthcare aspects.

Neonatal jaundice has been suggested as a perinatal risk factor for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We examined UGT1A1 polymorphisms to assess the potential of neonatal jaundice as a risk factor for ASD in children by using DNA extracted from preserved umbilical cord. In total, 79 children with ASD were genotyped for "UGT1A1*28" (c.-41-40dup), "UGT1A1*6" (c.211 G > A), and "UGT1A1*27" (c.686 C > A). The allele frequency of "UGT1A1*6" (OR = 1.34, p = 0.26) and "UGT1A1*28" (OR = 0.80, p = 0.54) and the prevalence of "UGT1A1*28/*6" diplotypes did not differ significantly from those in the control population. No "UGT1A1*27" allele was detected in the subjects. ASD symptom assessment scores were not associated with "UGT1A1*28/*6/*27" genotypes or "UGT1A1*28/*6" diplotypes. These results suggest that neonatal jaundice is not significantly associated with ASD.

Very few studies have assessed infant capacity for bidirectional, contingent communication at birth, and to our knowledge there are none with preterm infants in the neonatal period. Presence versus absence of such interactive contingency makes a difference for our theories of development. We examined whether preterm infants can contingently coordinate behaviors with mothers and fathers in spontaneous communication in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and whether mother-infant versus father-infant engagement and contingency differ. Twenty Italian preterm infants (60% girls, born 27-33 weeks, largely middle-class families) lying in a heated cot in the NICU were videotaped at 35 weeks with mothers, and fathers (counterbalanced), in face-to-face communication. Videotapes were coded on a 1-s time-base with parent and infant engagement scales. Multilevel time-series models evaluated self-contingency (auto-correlation) and interactive contingency (lagged cross-correlation). Mothers (vs. fathers) showed higher levels of engagement, interpreted as more arousing. Fathers (vs. mothers) showed more midrange engagement, interpreted as less "demanding" of infant engagement. Infants were more gaze-on-parent's-face and gaze-on-environment with mothers than fathers. Fathers interacted contingently with infants, whereas mothers did not. However, infants interacted contingently with mothers, but not fathers. When infants were in lower engagement levels 1-s prior, fathers stayed in lower engagement levels in the current second, closer to infants than mothers. We suggest that fathers were more coordinated because fathers were more able to join the infant's dampened state. We suggest that infants were more coordinated with mothers because mothers were more socially stimulating, and more familiar. We conclude that preterm infants, shortly after birth, are capable of contingent communication.

Kangaroo care (KC) or kangaroo mother care (KMC), sometimes called skin-to-skin contact, is a technique of newborn care where babies are kept chest-to-chest and skin-to-skin with a parent. The research was carried out experimentally to investigate the effect of the early kangaroo care by using Neonatal Comfort Behavior Scale in invasive interventions applied to the babies during early kangaroo care who born as healthy normal birth. Eighty babies who born at Adana Maternity and Child Health Hospital delivery room between 1 July and 31 October 2016 and their mothers constituted the research sampling. The babies were inserted into the experimental (n = 40) and control groups (n = 40) by the simple random sampling method. The invasive interventions were executed to the babies included in experimental group during early kangaroo care and COMFORTneo Behavior Scale was applied. The crying times of babies in both groups were measured with the aid of stopwatch. The level of comfort of the group receiving kangaroo care was found to be higher than those who did not. Significant connection was confirmed statistically positive, and highly between total score and duration of crying (r = 0.925; p = 0.000). It was determined that crying time increases and comfort decreases with increment in total score. As a result, it was found that the early kangaroo care applied during invasive interventions of newborns is an effective method in increasing baby's comfort who born at delivery room.

There is an increased recognition for the need to have national guidance for discharge preparation and transition planning for infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) as a key component of family-centered NICU care (Vohr, 2022). As babies transition home, many still have special care needs. The National Perinatal Association recognized this need and convened a working group to create national guidelines reflecting the best available from across disciplines. Recently published, the "Interdisciplinary Guidelines and Recommendations for NICU Discharge and Transition Planning" Smith et al., 2002b) provide clear and concise guidance that is both general and adaptable while also being specific and actionable. The Discharge Guidelines promote starting where the family is, recognizing each family's unique make-up, values, beliefs, and cultural norms.

This is an empirical study aiming to examine the attachment patterns of the fathers who embraced their babies and who did not; and to investigate their participation to the caretaking of their new-born babies. The research was conducted with 50 fathers by face-to-face meeting in delivery rooms and maternity wards in Health Sciences University Adana Numune Education and Research Hospital and Adana Gynecology and Children Diseases Hospital between October and December 2016. Communications of fathers and newborns given in their laps were observed in experimental group after birth and time of keeping newborns on their laps were determined by a chronometer. Communication of fathers with their babies, attachments and attending to care of their newborns were investigated 1 month after study. A significant correlation was found between fathers' taking their newborns on their laps and attending to care (p < 0.05). Introducing newborns to their fathers shortly after birth and giving them to their fathers are determined as a significant finding for attachment between babies and fathers in further periods.

Multisensory experiences crucially contribute to the development of infants' ability to match audio-visual (A-V) information. This study investigated two-day-old newborns' ability to bind non-verbal, naturally occurring, experienced A-V stimuli. Our results demonstrate that, when presented with experienced stimuli (yawns and hiccups) within an intermodal matching procedure, 2-days-old newborns matched not only synchronous (Experiment 1) but also asynchronous A-V information (Experiment 2). Conversely, no evidence of A-V association was found when unexperienced stimuli, such as a linguistic sound (syllable/ba/) (Experiment 3), were presented in asynchrony. The possible role of sensorimotor experience in the early emergence of intersensory abilities is discussed.

Self-recognition emerges during the second year of life and represents the emergence of a reflective self, a metacognition which underlies self-conscious emotions such as embarrassment and shame, perspective taking, and emotional knowledge of others. In a longitudinal study of 171 children, two major questions were explored from an extant database: 1) Do early factors, including IQ, general environmental risk, mother-child attachment interaction, drug exposure, gender, and neonatal risk, relate to self-recognition?; 2) Does self-recognition, along with these earlier factors, predict the child's subsequent emotional knowledge? Consistent with previous data, 39% of children exhibited self-recognition by 18-months and few early factors explored were related to this ability. Moreover, path analysis revealed few effects of the earlier factors predicting self-recognition on children's emotional knowledge. Self-recognition did predict emotional knowledge at 4.5 years, such that children who showed early self-recognition showed greater emotional knowledge. Children from high risk environments also showed lower emotional knowledge. These findings indicate that self-recognition and environmental risk are related to children's later knowledge of emotions.

The birth of preterm multiple new-borns, especially triplets or more, creates numerous psychological and clinical challenges for parents during the neonatal and infancy period. This study investigated parents' experiences of parenting preterm multiple-birth new-borns. A qualitative study was undertaken using an interpretive phenomenology study methodology. The study sample was created purposively yielding 15 parents who were parenting three or more premature new-borns with one or more of them admitted to the neonatal intensive care (NICU). Four main themes were constructed during data analysis. These included: 'being abandoned in an unknown endless path'; 'constant erosive concerns'; 'sacrificial self-forgetfulness'; and 'the manifestation of growth and maturity'. The parents of preterm multiple-birth neonates described how their experiences ranged along a continuum from bitter to sweet sifting and between these two emotional states was common. Optimizing their experiences, to be more sweet than bitter, can be realized through supportive and individualized family-centred care.

This study analysed whether the assessment of head righting reflex (HRR) in babies immediately after birth can be used in prediction of early child development. In 54 healthy newborns, testing of HRR was conducted on the third day upon birth. The HRR at birth were correlated with balance ability (BA), speech and language development (SLD) and social-emotional behaviour (SEB), on the same sample of children at the age of 5. Children whose HRR was absent or incomplete immediately after birth, later start to sit, stand, walk and talk and that differences are statistically significant (p<0.02, p<0.05, p<0.01 and p<0.01 respectively). Children with better BA (t = 2,32; p<0.02) and SLD (t = 2,33; p<0.02) at the age of 5, had present HRR at birth. Although the HRR reaches its full maturity at the end of the 2nd month of life, its onset immediately after birth could serve as a predictor of early child development.

In this study, it was aimed to determine the difficulties in receiving care for infants who are in neonatal intensive care during the pandemic process. In this phenomenological study, interviews were conducted with semi-structured questions with the participants. While collecting the data, both observation and interview techniques were used. The situations that prevent getting care from nurses are as follows. The inability to establish skin-to-skin contact with the infant, the problems caused by the equipment that nurses have to wear, and the fear of COVID-19. Conditions that prevent receiving care from the mother are as follows: removal of family visits, interruption of kangaroo care, failure to initiate breastfeeding. As a result, infants faced many difficulties in receiving care during the pandemic period and their care could not be applied properly and regularly.

This study was a prospective, randomized controlled trial. The study sample consisted of 105 healthy neonates who conformed to the case selection criteria. Neonates were randomly assigned to the following groups: swaddling (S), maternal holding (MH), and controls (C). The study data were obtained using an information form and the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS). There were no statistically significant differences between total crying times (C: 81.14 ± 44.93; S:79.28 ± 40.74; MH: 69.42 ± 31.10 sec.) and the time to first calming (C: 71.28 ± 50.87; S: 59.74 ± 42.40; MH: 54.85 ± 35.61) of heel stick procedures between all groups (p>0.05). It was observed that procedural pain levels were the lowest in the maternal holding group (5.57 ± 1.24), followed by swaddling (5.82 ± 0.92), and the control group (6.40 ± 0.91). As a result, both swaddling and maternal holding are effective at reducing pain felt during heel stick procedures, but mother holding may be preferred as a priority rather than swaddling.

Exploring effective interventions to compensate for developmental delay in premature neonates and reduce their mothers' anxiety is of great significance. This research aimed at examining the effects of body massage on Iranian premature neonates' physical and motor development, and on their mother's anxiety and attachment. Forty premature neonates and their mothers were recruited and randomly assigned to either the control or experimental groups. Results showed that the body massage lead to greater weight, motor development, and larger bicep and thigh circumference compared to the control group. However, no significant differences were found in other parts of the neonates' bodies, nor were there differences in reflex status between the groups. Furthermore, the levels of mothers' attachment and their anxiety in the experimental group significantly increased and decreased, respectively. Therefore, massage therapy as a low-cost, non-medicinal treatment can be applied to improve neonates' physical and motor development and their mothers' psychological status.

We analyzed claims data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance database, which contains data of 23.5 million Taiwan residents. We included children born after January 1, 2000 who had received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Patients who were not diagnosed with ASD were included in the control group. The ASD prevalence was 517 in 62,051 (0.83%) children. Neonatal jaundice, hypoglycemia, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), and craniofacial anomalies (CFA) differed significantly between the ASD and control groups. After logistic regressive analysis, the adjusted odds ratios of IUGR, CFA, neonatal hypoglycemia, and neonatal jaundice were 8.58, 7.37, 3.83, and 1.32, respectively. Those insidiously perinatal risk factors, namely CFA, IUGR, neonatal hypoglycemia, and neonatal jaundice, could increase the risk of ASD.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has renewed interest in the use of ultrasound (US) amongst dysphagia-trained clinicians working with infants and children. US is a portable, minimally intrusive tool which carries reduced risk of aerosol-generation provoked by other instrumental swallowing assessment tools such as fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). For this reason, US could be a valuable addition to the dysphagia assessment toolkit. A recently published rapid review of US evidence for the assessment of swallowing and laryngeal function in the adult population provided a framework for this neonatal and paediatric review. Aims: This enhanced rapid review aimed to establish the applicability of US as an instrumental assessment tool for sucking, swallowing and laryngeal function in the neonatal and paediatric populations. Methods & Procedures: A rapid review of six electronic databases was conducted to identify articles using US to assess sucking, swallowing or laryngeal function in the selected populations, compared with varied reference tests. Abstract screening was completed according to pre-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria with 10% of articles assessed by a second screener. Data was extracted from the included studies using a pre-developed form. A modified QUADAS-2 tool was used to assess study quality. Results from the included studies were summarised and grouped into sucking, swallowing and laryngeal function data. Outcomes & Results: Twelve studies using US in the assessment of swallowing and/or laryngeal function met inclusion criteria. No studies using US for assessment of sucking met the inclusion criteria. All were peer-reviewed, primary studies across a range of clinical populations and with a wide geographical spread. Five studies had an overall low risk of bias. Seven studies had at least one domain where risk of bias was judged as high. All studies had high applicability. The two studies assessing swallowing differed in terms of aims and use of US. The studies assessing laryngeal function predominately investigated vocal fold movement and laryngeal pathology. Sensitivity and specificity data were provided or calculated from raw data for nine of the laryngeal function studies (respective ranges of 75%-100% and 80%-100%). Conclusions & Implications: Emerging evidence exists to support the use of US as adjunct to clinical assessment of swallowing and laryngeal function in the neonatal and paediatric population. A paucity of evidence to support use of US in the assessment of sucking exists. Further research is needed to establish evidence-based assessment and analysis protocols as well as development of paediatric data.

This study aims to examine the effect of kangaroo care on Vulnerable Infant Syndrome (VIS) in the mother. The sample group consisted of 58 preterm infants, 27 of whom were control and 31 were experimental groups. Data were collected using the question form, the Vulnerable Baby Scale (VBS), the Edinburgh Post Partum Depression Scale (EPDS), the Maternal Attachment Scale (MAS). The mean scores of VBS were found in the kangaroo group (17.22 ± 0.96) and in the control group (43.66 ± 0.89). It was found that there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of VBS scores (p < 0.01). In addition, the mothers in the experimental group compared to the mothers in the control group; the mean EPDS score was low and the MAS mean score was high (p < 0.01). It was determined kangaroo care reduces maternal vulnerability, postpartum depression and increases maternal attachment.

Preterm birth consequences may lead to developmental deficits, psychiatric disorders and may also cause parental mental health problems. Our aim was to describe quality of life and internalizing-externalizing behaviours of preterm children at 2 years regarding parental mental health. 112 mothers of preterm children provided the following information: pediatric quality of life, internalizing-externalizing behaviours, maternal perceived stress, anxiety, depression and satisfaction with life. Regarding emotional and behavioural problems and low quality of life, risk factors are lower birthweight, neonatal morbidities and lower socioeconomic status. Mothers with higher stress, more anxiety and depression symptoms and lower satisfaction with life reported more internalizing-externalizing behaviours and lower quality of life about their children. Among low birthweight children, conduct and hyperactivity problems are the most common at 2 years old. We emphasize the importance of parental mental health and the need for early prevention and intervention in order to minimalize the burden of hyperactivity symptoms.

In both clinical and health professions education research, rich pictures, or participant-generated drawings of complex phenomena, are gaining recognition as a useful method for exploring multifaceted and emotional topics in medicine. For instance, two recent studies used rich pictures to augment semi-structured interviews exploring trainees', health care professionals' (HCPs), and parents' experiences of difficult conversations in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)--an environment in which communication is often challenging, anxiety-provoking, and emotionally distressing. In both studies, participants were invited to draw a picture depicting how they experienced a difficult conversation in this setting. As part of the interview process, participants were asked to both describe how they engaged with rich pictures, and to share their perceptions about the affordances and limitations of this research method. Here, their perspectives are reported and the possibilities of using rich pictures to inform pedagogical innovations in health professions education and research are considered.

Auditory speech discrimination is essential for normal language development. Children born preterm are at greater risk of language developmental delays. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy at term-equivalent age, the present study investigated early discrimination of speech prosody in 62 neonates born between week 23 and 41 of gestational age (GA). We found a significant positive correlation between GA at birth and neural discrimination of forward versus backward speech at term-equivalent age. Cluster analysis identified a critical threshold at around week 32 of GA, pointing out the existence of subgroups. Infants born before week 32 of GA exhibited a significantly different pattern of hemodynamic response to speech stimuli compared to infants born at or after week 32 of GA. Thus, children born before the GA of 32 weeks are especially vulnerable to early speech discrimination deficits. To support their early language development, we therefore suggest a close follow-up and additional speech and language therapy especially in the group of children born before week 32 of GA.

In Malaysia, most parents prefer to choose registered early childhood learning centers ("TASKA"), due to their perceptions that the centers are with quality services and well-observed by the government authority. In this quantitative research, the main objective is to identify the best model to represent the contributing factors which influence arithmetic performance among children at registered Malaysian "TASKA." Childrens' arithmetic performance in general affect their mental capability and overall personal skills development. This research is significant to determining the important contributing factors which influence newborn babies' mathematical skills. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire. Based on the right sampling method, 376 registered TASKAs in Malaysia were chosen. Among the 458 chosen centers, only 63 centres provide care and education services for children age of 0 to 6 months. Neural network technique was the analysis adapted in order to achive the research objective. In the near future, the research will be extended to the unregistered "TASKA" in Malaysia, and the fair comparisons will be made with the registered centers.