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Newborn preterm infants have large losses of fluid from their immature skin. To minimize fluid and heat loss and reduce the risk of dehydration and hypothermia, infants are routinely nursed in humidified and temperature-controlled incubators. The incubator care can be interrupted by periods of skin-to-skin care (STS). However, data are limited on how to reduce fluid and heat loss from very preterm infants during STS. To investigate the effect of clothing during STS we measured the evaporation of water from the surface of a body/skin model designed to simulate the skin temperature and ambient conditions of an extremely preterm infant during the first days of life. A semi-permeable membrane was placed on top of a water filled chamber heated to body temperature and kept in an incubator at relevant environmental conditions. The evaporation rate (ER) was determined by evaporimetry from the membrane surface alone or from the membrane covered with layers of fabric. The effect of fabric clothing was also determined in a group of extremely preterm infants during incubator care. The evaporation rate (ER) was 51 ± 2.7 g/m2 h from the membrane only. When layers of fabric were applied, ER decreased for each added layer. The ER and temperatures recorded in the model system were in the range relevant for preterm infants. In the infants, fabric clothing also resulted in a decreased ER. We conclude that layers of a simple cotton fabric provide a significant barrier to vapor diffusion thereby reducing evaporative loss of water and heat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Linguistic skills at 6 1/2 y of age, corrected for gestational age at birth, were examined in a cohort of 230 children who had required neonatal intensive care (NIC) in 1986-89, and in 71 fullterm neonatally healthy control children (C) matched to the NIC children born at < 32 gestational weeks. Ten linguistic areas were assessed. The 10th percentile score of the controls was identified in each linguistic area and used for comparisons. In 77.5% of the controls and 63.5% of the NIC children, no score was lower than the 10th percentile score of the controls. Scores lower than the 10th percentile score were more common in NIC children born at term or at 23-31 wk, and within this group of children those born at 23-27 wk, than in controls.Conclusion: In preterm children of < 32 wk the results in the linguistic areas of imitation of articulatory positions, comprehension of logical grammatical constructions, phonemes and word fluency differed from those of the matched controls, and in NIC children born at > or = 32 weeks the results for imitation of articulatory positions, articulatory patterns and sentences, auditory discrimination and word fluency were poorer than those of the controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Spontaneous speech at 6 1/2 y of age was studied in a follow-up of 230 children born in 1986-89 who had required neonatal intensive care (NIC) and 71 fullterm neonatally healthy control children. Eight aspects of spontaneous speech were examined: Information, speech motor function, sound pattern, word finding, word selection, grammar, interaction and motivation. The results were analysed in relation to gestational age groups (group I, 23-31 wk; subgroup IA, 23-27 wk; IB, 28-31 wk; group II, 32-36 wk; group III, >36 wk) and a separate group of children with congenital malformations (IWCM). Between 66.7% (group IA) and 55.7% (group III) had no obvious deviations in any aspect of spontaneous speech compared with 80.3% of controls. Children born at <32 wk of gestation (group I) had few pronounced deviations in speech motor function or formal aspects of spontaneous speech. No ability, or hardly any ability, in an aspect of spontaneous speech was only found in children born at >32 wk. Deviations in prosody and poor facial expressions accompanying spontaneous speech were more common in group I than in controls.Conclusion: Most children who needed intensive care neonatally had well-developed spontaneous speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linguistic skills at 6½ y of age were examined in a cohort of 284 children requiring neonatal intensive care (NIC) and in 40 controls. Ten linguistic areas were assessed. The results are presented for gestational age groups. The 10th percentile score of the controls was identified in each linguistic area. Seventy percent of the controls and <27% of the NIC children had no score lower than the 10th percentile score. Scores lower than the 10th percentile score were more common in NIC children born at term or at 23-31 wk, and within the latter group in those born at 28-31 wk, than in those born at 32-36 wk gestational age. The linguistic areas of auditory discrimination, imitation of articulatory positions and imitation of sentences were most frequently affected. NIC children born at 32-36 wk performed better in the last two areas than those born at <32 wk. To be a twin and born at 28-31 wk was associated with an increased risk of having more than five scores lower than the 10th percentile score of the controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]