News & Updates

Compared to pregnant women with higher vitamin D levels, pregnant women with low vitamin D levels had greater risk of preterm birth. Their infants were also of shorter length.

Even a partial course of steroids for pregnant women at risk of early labor can help a preterm infant’s lungs mature and raise the odds of survival.

Lowering body temperature for preterm infants who experienced oxygen loss to the brain during birth does not benefit preterm infants. Numerous studies had found that the treatment may benefit term infants.

Read about select research advances supported by NICHD in 2024, including work on women’s health, child and adolescent health, medical rehabilitation, health disparities, and more.

Infants who were formula fed, introduced to solid food early, and fed by caregivers who watched television while feeding them were at risk for rapid weight gain in early life.

Newborns experiencing withdrawal symptoms after opioid exposure in the womb are more likely to be readmitted to the hospital 90 days after being discharged.

Our experiences during infancy and childhood affect our health across the lifespan. Through its infant health research, NICHD continues to promote healthy and optimal lives for all children and adolescents, including the tiniest babies.

Skin-to-skin care, or placing an infant on a caregiver’s bare chest for feeding or bonding, appeared to boost very preterm infants' neurodevelopment. Newborns cared for with the method had better neurodevelopment test scores at 12 months.

Newborns managed with a new care approach for opioid withdrawal were more likely than those receiving traditional care to breastfeed. The findings provide evidence that the care approach may help increase breastfeeding among infants experiencing opioid withdrawal.

Kids who begin drinking juice before 6 months of age have higher blood pressure and other signs of cardiac risk by middle childhood than kids who begin drinking juice after 12 months of age.

Umbilical cord milking, a technique to move blood from the umbilical cord to an infant’s body, does not increase the risk for neurodevelopmental disabilities in non-vigorous term infants—those who are limp, pale and with minimal breathing. The technique provides an alternative for delayed cord clamping for when resuscitation efforts are needed as soon as possible.

Blood transfusions for preterm infants to do not appear to increase the risk of a life-threatening intestinal condition, a new study suggests.

The odds of cerebral palsy among surviving preterm infants born before 27 weeks of pregnancy increased by an average of 11% per year and study authors say the increase may reflect improved survival due to advances in infant care.

Children born to mother who received a steroid injection in late pregnancy do not appear to be at risk for adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. The findings help to allay concerns that the treatment—given to help fetal lungs mature in case of preterm birth—could affect neurodevelopment.

Infants who underwent surgery for inguinal hernia—when intestinal tissue protrudes through an abnormal opening in the abdominal muscles—after discharge had fewer adverse events than those who had surgery while still in the hospital, a study suggests. The findings offer guidance on the best timing to perform this delicate surgery on fragile infants.

Health care providers often use the antifungal drug fluconazole “off-label” to prevent and treat fungal infections in infants. Thanks to NICHD-funded research, fluconazole labels now include information about the drug’s recommended usage and dosage in infants, including those born prematurely.

NICHD has a longstanding commitment to research on the effects of exposure to and use of technology and digital media from infancy through adolescence. Since 2020, the Institute has expanded its research in this area to advance toward the goal of discovering how such exposure and use affect developmental trajectories, health outcomes, and parent-child interactions in early childhood.

Four children enrolled in an NIH-funded study have remained free of detectable HIV for more than one year after their antiretroviral therapy was paused to see if they could achieve HIV remission, researchers report. The findings suggest that very early HIV treatment enables unique features of the neonatal immune system to limit HIV reservoir development, increasing the prospect of HIV remission.

Compared to formula fed infants, extremely preterm infants fed donated human milk had half the rate of necrotizing enterocolitis, a life threatening condition of the intestines. There were no differences in neurological development between those fed donor milk and those fed formula.

Preterm infants born to women who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 had roughly the same levels of antibodies to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 as term infants born to vaccinated women, allaying concerns that fewer antibodies might pass to preterm infants.