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Aim: Healthcare givers are exposed to stress and therefore are at risk of the development of pathologies. We aimed to provide recommendations regarding psychosocial risks such as stress, moral distress, burnout syndrome or secondary stress syndrome in neonatal care units to best support neonatal healthcare givers., Methods: We searched PubMed for articles published from 1 January 2017 to 1 December 2023 by using the keywords burnout OR (moral and distress) AND neonatal unit. Recommendations were developed after internal and external review by a multidisciplinary group including 15 professionals and parent representatives., Results: We identified 207 studies and developed 15 recommendations based on 118 eligible studies. Recommendations to support neonatology healthcare givers were developed for the individual level, the collective or department level to organise the environment, the training of the team with communication sessions and team cohesion; and the institutional level to respect and organise working time., Conclusion: Psychosocial risks have consequences for the neonatal healthcare givers themselves and possibly those being cared for. To date, prevention, screening and treatment have been insufficiently developed and explored. In this context, an overall institutional review of the chosen care model is needed., (© 2024 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Aim: This study measured sound levels in a 2008 built French neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and compared them to the 2007 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations. The ultimate aim was to identify factors that could influence noise levels., Methods: The study measured sound in 17 single or double rooms in the NICU. Two dosimeters were installed in each room, one inside and one outside the incubators, and these conducted measurements over a 24-hour period. The noise metrics measured were the equivalent continuous sound level (L eq ), the maximum noise level (L max ) and the noise level exceeded for 10% of the measurement period (L 10 )., Results: The mean L eq , L 10 and L max were 60.4, 62.1 and 89.1 decibels (dBA), which exceeded the recommended levels of 45, 50 and 65 dBA (p < 0.001), respectively. The L eq inside the incubator was significantly higher than in the room (+8 dBA, p < 0.001). None of the newborns' characteristics, the environment or medical care was correlated to an increased noise level, except for a postconceptional age below 32 weeks., Conclusion: The sound levels significantly exceeded the AAP recommendations, particularly inside incubators. A multipronged strategy is required to improve the sound environment and protect the neonates' sensory development., (©2017 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This study investigated the ability of preterm infants to learn an object shape with one hand and discriminate a new shape in the opposite hand (without visual control). Twenty-four preterm infants between 33 and 34 + 6 gestational weeks received a tactile habituation task with either their right or left hand followed by a tactile discrimination task in the opposite hand. The results confirmed that habituation occurred for both shapes and both hands. Infants subsequently held the novel shape longer in the opposite hand. The results reveal that preterm infants are capable of intermanual transfer of shape information. In spite of the immaturity of the corpus callosum in preterm infants, its development seems to be sufficient to allow some transfer of information between both hands., (© 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.)

Background: Grasping at birth is well-known as a reflex in response to a stimulation of the palm of the hand. Recent studies revealed that this grasping was not only a pure reflex because human newborns are able to detect and to remember differences in shape features. The manual perception of shapes has not been investigated in preterm human infants. The aim of the present study was to investigate manual perception by preterm infants., Methodology/principal Findings: We used a habituation/reaction to novelty procedure in twenty-four human preterm infants from 33 to 34+6 post-conceptional age. After habituation to an object (prism or cylinder) in one hand (left or right) in a habituation phase, babies were given either the same object or the other (novel) object in the same hand in a test phase. We observed that after successive presentations of the same object, a decrease of the holding time is observed for each preterm infant. Moreover, a significant increase of the holding time is obtained with the presentation of the novel object. Finally, the comparison between the current performance of preterm infants and those of full-term newborns showed that preterm babies only had a faster tactile habituation to a shape., Conclusion/significance: For the first time, the results reveal that preterm infants from 33 to 34+6 GW can detect the specific features that differentiate prism and cylinder shapes by touch, and remember them. The results suggest that there is no qualitative, but only quantitative, difference between the perceptual abilities of preterm babies and those of full-term babies in perceiving shape manually.

Fetal valproate syndrome results from in utero exposure to valproic acid. It is characterized by a distinctive facial appearence, a cluster of minor and major anomalies, and central nervous system dysfunction. We report on a child exposed prenatally to valproic acid with unusual anomalies. This patient was the first child of young parents. Mother had several generalized seizures one year before this pregnancy, and since than she took valproic acid. Pregnancy was otherwise uneventful. At birth physical examination showed generalized hypertrichosis sparing palms and soles, coarse face, gum hypertrophy, hypotonia, club feet and club hands, two annular constrictions of the right lower leg, and abnormal dermatoglyphics. Skeletal X-rays were normal. Gum hypertrophy and hypertrichosis may be part of a broader pattern of altered morphogenesis in fetus exposed to valproic acid or this patient had two conditions, fetal valproate syndrome and hypertrichosis with gum fibromatosis.