Reading preterm infants' behavioral cues: An intervention study with parents of premature infants born < 32 weeks

The effect of a short-term intervention with parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) on their knowledge of infant behavioral cues and confidence in caregiving was examined. Ten sets of parents with a total of 22 premature infants born < 32 weeks gestational age admitted to a NICU were enrolled in a time-lag control trial over an 8...

Parental experiences during the first period at the neonatal unit after two developmental care interventions

Aim: Developmental care has gained increased attention in the individualized care for preterm infants. This study was designed to explore the effect of a basic form of developmental care and the more extended Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP) on parental stress, confidence and perceived nursing support....

Outcome of perinatal care for very preterm infants at 5 years of age: A comparison between 1983 and 1993

Perinatal mortality in very preterm infants has decreased by up to 50% during the last decades. Studies of changes of long-term outcome are inconclusive. We studied the visual, auditory, neuromotor, cognitive and behavioural development of two geographically defined populations of very preterm, singleton infants, born in 1983 and in 1993, and...

Staff opinions regarding the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program (NIDCAP)

This study explored the opinions of (para)medical and nursing staff in two Dutch Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU's). A questionnaire was used that measured: a) the perceived impact of NIDCAP on several NICU conditions, b) attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, knowledge and abilities of using the NIDCAP method (based on...

Prevalence and independent risk factors for hearing loss in NICU infants

Aim: To determine the prevalence and independent relationship between hearing loss and risk factors in a representative neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) population. Methods: Automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) hearing screening has been introduced since 1998 in the Dutch NICUs. After a second AABR failure, diagnostic ABR was used to...

Changes in perinatal care and survival in very preterm and extremely preterm infants in the Netherlands between 1983 and 1995

Objective: To evaluate changes in obstetrical and neonatal care for very preterm and extremely preterm infants between 1983 and 1995 in The Netherlands and to evaluate the effect of those changes. Study design: Data on all very preterm or VLBW infants from the linked national obstetrical and neonatal databases of 1995 (N=2066) were compared to...

School performance in adolescents with and without periventricular- intraventricular hemorrhage in the neonatal period

Long-term sequelae of preterm birth have been studied extensively up until the age of 5 to 8 years. However, the cognitive development of adolescents born preterm has received limited attention. The objective of this study is to determine school performance in adolescents born very preterm. We have followed up a cohort of 484 infants born before...

Bilateral Hearing Impairment in Dutch Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Infants with Unilateral Failure on Hearing Screening

Implementation of a nation-wide automated auditory brainstem response hearing screening programme in neonatal intensive care units

Aim: As part of a future national neonatal hearing screening programme in the Netherlands, automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) hearing screening was implemented in seven neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The objective was to evaluate key outcomes of this programme: participation rate, first stage success rate, pass/referral rates,...

Quality of life in preschool children born preterm

The relationship of preterm birth to health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was examined for children aged 1 to 4 years. Three gestational age groups with a NICU history were selected, <32 weeks (n=65), 32 to 36 weeks (n=41),≥37 weeks (n=54), and a reference group from the open population (n=50). The main instrument was the TNO-AZL Preschool...

Toename van het aantal vroeggeboorten in Nederland: Vergelijking van 1983 en 1993 [ Increase of preterm birth in the Netherlands in 1993 compared with 1983 ]

Objective. Survey of changes in the number of preterm and very low birth weight infants in the Netherlands in ten years. Design. Descriptive. Setting. TNO Preventie en Gezondheid, sector Jeugd, Leiden, the Netherlands. Method. All infants with a gestational age less than 32 weeks and (or) a birth weight less than 1500 g from the National...

Toename van perinatale verwijzing naar regionale centra bij vroeggeboorte in Nederland : Vergelijking van 1983 en 1993 [Increased perinatal referral to regional centres of premature infants in the Netherlands : Comparison of 1983 and 1993]

Objective. To determine changes in referral of preterm newborns. Design. Descriptive. Setting. Foundation for Perinatal Epidemiology the Netherlands, Leiden. Methods. Data regarding hospital of birth, referral, need of intensive care and mortality of the infants < 32 weeks and (or) < 1500 g birth weight born in 1993 from the National Neonatology...

Evaluation of care for the preterm infant: Review of literature on follow-up of preterm and low birthweight infants : Report from the collaborative Project On Preterm and Small for gestational age infants (POPS) in The Netherlands

Since the introduction of neonatal intensive care in the 1960s, mortality in very preterm and very low birthweight infants has been decreasing steadily. Consequently, interest in the outcome of surviving infants is growing. Restriction of health care resources has stressed the need for information concerning the effect of individual treatment...