Findings of a new study examining infant weight suggest that bottle-feeding, either with breast milk or formula, may be an independent factor in infant weight gain.
Medscape Medical News

Dr. Breuner reviews the latest guidelines for cervical cancer screening and their implications for those who care for adolescents.
Medscape Pediatrics

Moderate/late preterm and early-term infants are at risk for health problems at ages 3 and 5 years.
Medscape Medical News

Two large studies have confirmed an approach to umbilical cord infection that could eliminate a major cause of neonatal death.
Medscape Medical News

More pregnant women are getting more than they may have expected, according to a report on 30-year trends in twin births.
WebMD Health News

Cora Breuner, MD, MPH, an adolescent medicine specialist, discusses the implications of the recent decision to disallow over-the-counter sales of emergency contraception to teens.
Medscape Pediatrics

It is now possible to diagnose most congenital heart defects during pregnancy. What are the advantages for both mother and baby?
CHOP Expert Commentary

Gestational exposure to bisphenol A, a widely used industrial chemical that may disrupt endocrine function, may increase emotional problems in 3-year-old girls.
Medscape Medical News

Combination bottle and breastfeeding is common, but little is known about the outcomes associated with this practice.
Medscape Pediatrics

Maternal risk factors for high BMI and smoking while pregnant set the stage for obesity in their children.
Medscape Medical News

Higher levels of accumulated breast-feeding during the first year of life were related to higher mental development at 14 months, independent of many parental psychosocial factors.
Medscape Medical News

Pregestational or gestational diabetes with good follow-up does not seem to be a significant risk factor of respiratory distress syndrome or other major complications in very-low-birth-weight infants.
Medscape Medical News

In a practice-based study, late-preterm birth and low-normal gestational ages were risk factors for the development of asthma and increased health service use in early childhood.
Medscape Medical News

In a randomized crossover trial, paternal kangaroo care was only slightly less effective than maternal kangaroo care for reducing procedural pain in preterm neonates.
Medscape Medical News

Docosahexaenoic acid supplementation (400 mg/day) during pregnancy was associated with a reduced occurrence of colds in infants at 1 month and changed illness symptom duration at 1, 3, and 6 months.
Medscape Medical News

New epidemiologic study finds a linear association between maternal magnetic field exposure and the risk for asthma in offspring.
Medscape Medical News

A meta-analysis shows that breast-feeding, especially exclusive breast-feeding, is protective against sudden infant death syndrome.
Medscape Medical News

In the Millennium Cohort Study, longer duration of breast-feeding, at least in term children, was associated with fewer parent-rated behavioral problems in children aged 5 years.
Medscape Medical News

Even infants born early term have a higher risk for asthma medication use as a proxy for later-life asthma vs children born at term; that is, every gestational week affects the risk of developing asthma.
Medscape Medical News

Despite downward trend, more than 400,000 teenage girls give birth each year in the United States.
Medscape Medical News

Extreme preterm birth (23 – 27 weeks’ gestation), but not later preterm birth, is associated with an increased risk for asthma at least into young adulthood.
Medscape Medical News

Cigarette smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy was associated with a significantly greater risk for certain types of congenital heart defects.
Medscape Medical News

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued the first guidelines for monitoring postnatal glucose.
Medscape Medical News

Childhood body mass index or weight trajectory may mediate the associations of heavy maternal smoking and prepregnancy body mass index with systolic blood pressure.
Medscape Medical News

Among infants who were never breast-fed or in whom breast-feeding was stopped before age 4 months, introduction of solid food at this age was linked to a 6-fold increase in obesity risk at age 3 years.
Medscape Medical News

Women who have influenza or fever during the periconceptional period are at increased risk of delivering a baby with certain congenital heart defects, but antipyretics may attenuate this association.
Reuters Health Information

The 2011 recommended childhood and adolescent immunization schedules have been released by the American Academy of Pediatrics and approved by several other organizations.
Medscape Medical News

A new review article questions evidence in favor of 6 months of exclusive breast-feeding, suggesting that a shorter duration may be associated with improved health outcomes.
Medscape Medical News

Despite some evidence to the contrary, being overweight before pregnancy may not be linked to having kids with a higher risk for behavioral or intellectual problems, a new study finds.
Reuters Health Information

Cord-blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D were inversely associated with the risk for respiratory tract infection and childhood wheezing but not with incident asthma.
Medscape Medical News