First-week protein and energy intakes are associated with 18-month developmental outcomes in extremely low birth weight infants.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the association between early protein and energy intake and neurodevelopment and growth of extremely low birth weight (<1000 g) infants.

Study Design: Daily protein and energy intakes were collected by chart review for the first 4 weeks of life on 148 extremely low birth weight survivors. A total of 124 infants (84%) returned for evaluation at 18 months' corrected age.

Keeping infants warm: challenges of hypothermia.

Hypothermia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in infants; therefore, maintaining normal body temperatures in the delivery room is crucial. An understanding of how infants produce heat and what can be done to maintain normal body temperatures in full-term and preterm infants is essential for the preservation of thermal stability in this population. This article reviews the consequences of hypothermia, mechanisms of heat exchange and heat production in full-term and low birth-weight infants, and discusses interventions in the delivery room to alleviate hypothermia.