Implementation of a quality improvement initiative for standardising essential newborn care in a teaching public hospital in rural central India.

Objective: Our aim was to refine the essential newborn care practices by employing the multidisciplinary peer team-led quality improvement (QI) projects.

Design: In 2017, concerning the same, the department focused on early initiation of breast feeding, prevention of hypothermia within an hour of life and rational usage of antibiotics among babies admitted to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Baseline data reported the rate of initiation of breast feeding, hypothermia and antibiotic exposure rate as 35%, 78% and 75%, respectively.

Early Hyperglycemia Is Associated with Increased Incidence of Severe Retinopathy of Prematurity in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants.

Objective: Preterm infants have a higher rate of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, both of which have been associated with increased neonatal morbidities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of abnormal glucose homeostasis during the first 72 hours of life and study its association with major morbidities in infants admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Study Design: This was a retrospective single-center study.

Effect of cue-based feeding on time to nipple feed and time to discharge in very low birth weight infants.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a cue-based feeding protocol in improving time to nipple feed and time to discharge in very low birth weight infants in a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Demographic, feeding, and discharge data were recorded and compared between the two cohorts. The pre-protocol cohort included infants born from August 2013 through April 2016 and the post-protocol cohort included infants born from January 2017 through December 2019.

Pharmacotherapy in Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: What Is the Evidence?

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) is a multifactorial disease affecting over 35% of extremely preterm infants born each year. Despite the advances made in understanding the pathogenesis of this disease over the last five decades, BPD remains one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in this population, and the incidence of the disease increases with decreasing gestational age. As inflammation is one of the key drivers in the pathogenesis, it has been targeted by majority of pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods to prevent BPD.

Quality Initiative to Reduce Extrauterine Growth Restriction in Very Low Birth Weight Infants.

Background: We report a statewide quality improvement initiative aimed to decrease the incidence of extrauterine growth restriction among very low birth weight infants cared for in Tennessee NICUs.

Methods: The cohort consisted of infants born appropriate for gestational age between May 2016 and December 2018 from 9 NICUs across Tennessee. The infants were 23 to 32 weeks gestation and 500 to 1499 g birth weight.