Tag Archives: mortality

More thoughts about the “toxicity” of donor milk, a case of Reverse Causation

Posted on 6 November 2023 by Keith Barrington

After my recent post, about the study which suggested that donor milk was killing babies, I have been taking a deeper dive into the article, as I prepare a letter to the editor. Only 2 small subsets of the infants … Continue reading →

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The preterm GI tract is not sterile

Posted on 27 October 2023 by Keith Barrington

The FDA are at it again, they seem to be on a mission to go after suppliers of probiotics for preterm babies, and have now attacked Abbott. They appear to have demanded that they stop marketing their probiotic product, as … Continue reading →

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Closing the PDA… or leaving it alone?

Posted on 20 October 2023 by Keith Barrington

Two new publications, in the Journal of Pediatrics, report trends in definitive closure of the PDA. This is a subject that I haven’t written about much on the blog, I wrote about the Beneductus trial last year, which was an … Continue reading →

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The myth of the “exclusive human milk diet”; fortification options for breast milk.

Posted on 12 October 2023 by Keith Barrington

The Exclusive Human Milk Diet sounds superficially immediately convincing: “We should only give milk products derived from human milk to human babies”. But, is it more than just a catchy phrase? The major company which is responsible for producing a … Continue reading →

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Probiotics. What now?

Posted on 6 October 2023 by Keith Barrington

Many of you will have seen or heard of the FDA warning about probiotics in preterm infants. In a letter (I am not in the USA, so I am not sure exactly who this letter was sent to, or the … Continue reading →

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What is happening for the most preterm deliveries.The Completed Week Heuristic.

Posted on 17 June 2022 by Keith Barrington

There are several recent publications about deliveries at 22 to 25 weeks gestation, evaluating the frequency of intensive care support of the babies, factors associated with support, and survival. The California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative reports the proportion of “active … Continue reading →

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Was OPTIMIST too optimistic?

Posted on 5 January 2022 by Keith Barrington

One of the trials we have been waiting for has just been published Dargaville PA, et al. Effect of Minimally Invasive Surfactant Therapy vs Sham Treatment on Death or Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Infants With Respiratory Distress Syndrome: The OPTIMIST-A … Continue reading →

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Intestinal perforation in the very preterm, what causes it, and what to do about it.

Posted on 24 September 2021 by Keith Barrington

There are 2 main causes of intestinal perforation in the very preterm, Necrotising Enterocolitis and Spontaneous Perforation. NEC, as I have previously discussed, may be a convenient name for a few different conditions which present in a similar fashion. In … Continue reading →

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Extreme preterm survival and outcomes

Posted on 16 September 2021 by Keith Barrington

There are frequently publications about the outcomes of extreme preterm infants; as a community I think we should be proud of our investment in outcome research. Indeed, neonatologists invented the entire field of outcomes research (Barrington KJ, Saigal S. Long-term … Continue reading →

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The ACOG patient information page; what should it say about 22, 23, 24 weekers?

Posted on 16 April 2021 by Keith Barrington

I mentioned not so long ago that the web page of the US Obstetricians professional association has information for prospective parents of babies of less than 25 weeks gestation that is… questionable. They state, for example, the following : Medical … Continue reading →

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