NICU Follow-up

Featured Researcher — Jonathan Slaughter, MD, MPH
Featured Researcher — Jonathan Slaughter, MD, MPH 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Jonathan Slaughter, MD, MPH, neonatologist and principal investigator in the Center for Perinatal Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, works to identify best practices and reduce treatment variation to improve neonatal clinical care and outcomes. His career took off when, after casually observing practice variation across the institutions where he received training, he noticed that preterm…

Is Tracheostomy Tube Placement in Preemies Safe?
Is Tracheostomy Tube Placement in Preemies Safe? 1024 575 Mary Bates, PhD
Nurse caring for infant in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

The procedure is safe and effective in newborns requiring high ventilator pressures. Tracheostomy tube placement is a common procedure performed for premature infants requiring respiratory assistance. Compared to an endotracheal tube, placement of a tracheostomy tube is thought to allow the infant more opportunities for comfort, interaction, nutrition and growth. However, rates of tracheostomy tube…

Novel Intervention Helps Infants With Cerebral Palsy Develop Arm and Hand Function
Novel Intervention Helps Infants With Cerebral Palsy Develop Arm and Hand Function 1024 683 Abbie Miller

A new NIH-funded randomized controlled trial shows that an intervention combining a patented soft restraint harness, therapist coaching and parent training increases reach smoothness, fine motor skills and tactile sensation in the more-affected upper extremity. For the first time in infants with CP under 2, a clinical trial of this type of intervention was shown…

THRIVING After Severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
THRIVING After Severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia 1024 731 Abbie Miller

Meet Willow. She was born via emergency C-section at just 22 weeks. Doctors at the delivering hospital told Willow’s mom Cortney that her baby’s chances of survival were low. But after a long journey through the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Willow is a vivacious 4-year-old looking forward to starting kindergarten…

Primary Care Provider Guide to Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Follow Up
Primary Care Provider Guide to Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Follow Up 150 150 Nationwide Children's

Pediatricians have a unique challenge when it comes to caring for the broad spectrum of needs associated with opioid-exposed infants. Some babies who were treated with pharmacological methods in a hospital will be discharged home still on neuro-active medications. Other babies did not receive a neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) diagnosis or specific treatment after birth…

What Happens When Opioid-Exposed Babies Go Home?
What Happens When Opioid-Exposed Babies Go Home? 1024 575 Abbie Miller
Black and white image of an unsmiling White woman holding a young, awake infant in the right third of the frame

Follow-up for babies with NAS or prenatal opioid exposure is essential for understanding risks and outcomes.

Mapping the Journey to Optimal Health for NICU Graduates
Mapping the Journey to Optimal Health for NICU Graduates 1024 683 Jeb Phillips

Babies born preterm need ongoing, specialized care to help them thrive after discharge from the hospital. Innovative programs are being designed to ensure that they get that care. In the early 1980s, only 10 percent of infants born before 28 weeks of gestational age survived to be discharged from the hospital. By 2015, 65 percent…

Integrating Research Into the “Journeys”
Integrating Research Into the “Journeys” 1024 683 Jeb Phillips

Along with their work to build an innovative follow-up program, Nationwide Children’s faculty and staff members are international leaders in NICU follow-up research. A number of foundation and National Institutes of Health-funded follow-up studies are housed entirely or in part at the hospital, and The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s is one of 17 member…