infant health Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Infant-Directed Singing Shown to Boost Emotional Health

The AHA! Team — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 06:23:15 +0000

Society for Research in Child Development via News-Medical – Many parents know that infants love to be sung to; however, there is limited prior research to show the long-term effects on parental singing. In a new study, researchers explored whether using a music enrichment intervention program to encourage parents to sing more frequently to their babies could improve the health of both infants and caregivers (as with skin-to-contact). This research was featured in a new Child Development article with authors from Yale University (United States), the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands), the University of Auckland (New Zealand), McGill University (Canada), Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell (United States) and Princeton University (United States). Researchers advertised for study participants through in-person visits to baby fairs, distribution of flyers at local daycare centers, preschools, and delivery hospitals, and an announcement on public radio in New Haven, Connecticut. Online recruitment efforts targeted social media groups for expecting and new parents, along with online communities related to early childhood education. The study requirements mandated that all participants have a smartphone to be able to communicate and complete surveys online in English and be a primary caregiver of the infant. The study was conducted with 110 caregivers and their infants, who were on average nearly 4 months old. Most caregivers were from the United States and New Zealand, predominantly white, educated, and socioeconomically advantaged. Study participants were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. The main portion of the study lasted six weeks, starting with a pre-test in week one, followed by a four-week intervention, and then a post-test in week six. Caregivers in the intervention group completed a brief, smartphone-based music enrichment program to help them sing more often to their babies (through access to instructional videos with children’s songs). Throughout the study, participants completed smartphone surveys one to three times daily, reporting on infant and parent mood, stress, sleep quality, and music use. The findings suggest that simple, low-cost interventions, such as increasing infant-directed singing, have the potential to improve health outcomes for both infants and caregivers. The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Samuel A. Mehr from Auckland University along with Dr. Eun Cho from Yale University and doctoral student, Lidya Yurdum from the University of Amsterdam to learn more about the research. SRCD: Can you please provide a brief overview of the study? Author team: We conducted a randomized controlled trial to test whether a simple, low-cost music intervention-encouraging caregivers to actively integrate singing into daily routines with their infants-could improve wellbeing for both infants and caregivers. The study included 110 caregiver-infant pairs, primarily from the United States and New Zealand (with infants on average about 4 months old). Participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. During the 4-week intervention, participants in the intervention group were encouraged to sing more to their infants than usual. We measured how this change in behavior would influence infant mood, stress, sleep, and music behavior, using brief, smartphone based surveys that caregivers completed at random times throughout the day. Our main finding was that the intervention successfully increased the frequency of infant-directed singing, especially in soothing contexts, and led to measurable improvements in infants’ general mood as reported by caregivers. SRCD: Did you learn anything that surprised you? Author team: One interesting finding was how intuitively caregivers incorporated singing into soothing routines for their infants, even though the intervention did not explicitly instruct them to use singing for this purpose. Among a dozen soothing strategies, singing was the only one that showed a significant increase in use following the intervention. From a methodological perspective, a particularly encouraging outcome was the high level of compliance with the study protocol-caregivers completed over 70% of the surveys across the 10-week period, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach for future developmental research. This strong compliance supported our decision to move forward with a longer-term, longitudinal study, which is currently underway. SRCD: Can you please explain how this research might be helpful for parents, caregivers and pediatricians? Author team: Our findings suggest that encouraging parents and caregivers to sing more frequently to their infants can have a positive, causal impact on infant mood. Singing is a universal practice-parents from almost every culture and throughout history have intuitively used singing to soothe and connect with their infants. It’s easy to do, requires no special equipment or training, and is accessible to everyone. Because infant mood is closely linked to parenting stress, caregiver-infant bonding, and later social-emotional development, such a simple intervention could have meaningful downstream benefits. For pediatricians and professionals working with families, recommending increased infant-directed singing is a practical, accessible strategy to support infant well-being. SRCD: Can you please address some of the research limitations? Author team: There are several limitations to note. First, our sample was predominantly white, highly educated, and socioeconomically advantaged and composed mainly of mothers, which limits the generalizability of the findings to more diverse populations. Second, all infant mood data were based on caregiver reports-although these reports were collected in real time to reduce recall bias, they remain subject to potential reporting biases. Third, the intervention was relatively brief and low-intensity; longer and more structured interventions might yield broader effects, including on caregiver mood or other health outcomes. Finally, music was already a regular part of many families’ routines at baseline, which may have limited the observable effect size of the intervention. SRCD: What’s next in this field of research? Author team: Despite the intervention lasting only four weeks, we observed clear benefits for infant mood. This suggests that the positive effects of singing to infants may be even more pronounced with longer-term, higher-intensity interventions-and may also extend to caregiver wellbeing and additional aspects of infant health beyond mood. Building on these findings, we are currently conducting two follow-up studies. The first is a direct replication of our original study, but with professionally developed, higher-quality intervention materials designed to help parents sing more to their infants. This will allow us to determine if improved resources can enhance the intervention’s effectiveness. The second is a longitudinal, randomized trial that follows families over eight months. In this study, we are comparing three active interventions -singing (music plus active parent-infant interaction), music listening (music without active interaction), and reading (no music but active interaction) – as well as a general control group. This design will help us disentangle the unique contributions of music, singing, and interactive activities to infant and caregiver outcomes. More information about this ongoing research can be found at https://www.togetherwegrow.study. This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (United States), the Royal Society of New Zealand, the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and Princeton University (United States). Source: Society for Research in Child Development Journal reference: Cho, E., et al. (2025) Ecological Momentary Assessment Reveals Causal Effects of Music Enrichment on Infant Mood. Child Development. doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14246. To read the original article click here.

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US Drug-Related Infant Deaths More Than Doubled from 2018 to 2022

The AHA! Team — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 05:44:39 +0000

Florida Atlantic University via EurekAlert! – A new study by Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine has uncovered a disturbing trend in drug-related infant deaths in the United States from 2018 to 2022. Infant deaths are those that occur between the time a child is born and age 1. Drug-involved deaths are those in which drugs are either the primary cause of death or a contributing factor and may occur due to maternal drug use, inadvertent or accidental intake of specific prescriptions, illicit or non-medical use of drugs and other incidents where drugs were linked to death. Results of the study, published in the Journal of Perinatal Medicine, show that in the U.S. from 2018 to 2022, drug-involved infant deaths more than doubled (120% increase) from 10.8% in 2018 to 24.4% in 2022. The largest increase was observed between 2019 (16.9%) and 2022 with the greatest proportion of drug-related infant deaths occurring in 2021 (25.8%). Overall, relative to all other causes of infant mortality, drug-involved deaths became more prevalent after 2019. Findings show that drug-involved infant deaths also were higher in the postnatal period, ages 28 to 364 days (81.4%), relative to deaths due to all other causes during the same period (34.6%). The most prevalent underlying causes of death included assault (homicide) by drugs, medicaments and biological substances (35.6%) followed by poisoning from exposure to narcotics and psychodysleptics (hallucinogens) (15.6%), and accidental poisoning from exposure to antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs (10.8%). The most common multiple causes of drug-involved infant deaths were psychostimulants with abuse potential of synthetic narcotics. In addition, a significant proportion of infants who died from drug-involved causes were born to non-Hispanic white (60.4%) and non-Hispanic Black mothers (28.5%). Furthermore, drug-induced mortality was 56.5% in male infants and 43.7% in female infants, a difference which also was statistically significant. “The differences we observed by race/ethnicity in drug-involved deaths, predominantly among non-Hispanic white and Black infants require a multifaceted approach for clinical and public health interventions,” said Panagiota “Yiota” Kitsantas, Ph.D., corresponding author and professor and chair of the Department of Population Health and Social Medicine, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine. “Addressing the social determinants of health, enhancing access to addiction treatment and implementing culturally sensitive interventions may be important to prevent infant deaths in vulnerable populations. In addition, the underlying causes, which included drug-related assault and various forms of poisoning, also may be areas for clinical and public health interventions.” From 2018 to 2022, drug-involved infant deaths accounted for 1.18% of all infant deaths From 2018 to 2022, drug-involved infant deaths accounted for 1.18% of all infant deaths, a notable rise from the previously reported 0.64% from 2015 to 2017. This increase was particularly pronounced during COVID-19, raising questions that require further studies. During this period, drug overdose mortality also increased substantially among pregnant and postpartum women. The researchers note that during COVID-19 there was reduced access to prenatal care, the emergence of health care deserts and hospital closures, especially in rural areas. These may have contributed, at least in part, to the observed increases in drug-related infant deaths, although more research is warranted. “Given the alarming increase in the number of drug overdose deaths in the general population, especially among pregnant and postpartum women, findings from our study are both important and timely,” said Maria C. Mejia, M.D., senior author and a professor of population health and social medicine, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine. “Drug-involved deaths in infants represent a potentially avoidable cause that should be considered in efforts to reduce infant mortality in the United States. Effective strategies will require collaborative efforts among health providers, public health agencies and community partners, and should focus on preventing and treating maternal substance use disorders, enhancing prenatal care access and addressing broader social and behavioral risk factors.” For the study, researchers used data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) and selected the period of 2018 to 2022 because 2018 was pre-COVID-19 and 2022 represents the most recent data available. Infant deaths were described by year of death, underlying cause and multiple cause of death, age of infant at time of death, gender and maternal race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic, Hispanic and other race). Study co-authors are Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.PH, first Sir Richard Doll Professor of Medicine and senior academic advisor; Sebastian Densley and Meera Rao, FAU medical students; Lea Sacca, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health and Social Medicine; and Robert S. Levine, M.D., affiliate professor of medicine; all within FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine. Journal Journal of Perinatal Medicine DOI 10.1515/jpm-2024-0067 To read the original article click here.

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Newly Identified Lipid in Breast Milk Might Reduce Cerebral Palsy in Infants

The AHA! Team — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 08:15:57 +0000

Duke Health – In animal studies, the fat molecule encourages stem cells to generate new cells that produce the brain’s white matter About 60,000 babies are born before 32 weeks’ gestation in the United States every year, and 10% of them will develop cerebral palsy resulting from infections that damage nerve fibers deep in the brain called white matter. 60,000 babies are born before 32 weeks’ gestation in the United States every year While it’s known that the white matter loss will lead to neurological deficits, there is currently no treatment to help these infants avoid the outcome. In experiments using neonatal mice, researchers at Duke Health have identified a fatty molecule in breast milk that triggers a process in which stem cells in the brain produce cells that create new white matter, reversing the injury. The study appears Aug. 3 in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Eric Benner, M.D., Ph.D., is the study’s corresponding author and is a distinguished assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine. Benner said further study in a clinical trial is needed, but the finding is promising. “Developing therapies for children — especially such medically fragile children — is very difficult to do because there are justifiably strict safety concerns,” Benner said. “The fact that this molecule is already found in something that is safe for premature babies – breast milk – is extremely encouraging. There are many types of fats in breast milk “It’s been known that fats in breast milk benefit a child’s brain development, but there are many types of fats in breast milk,” Benner said. “This work has identified a lipid molecule in breast milk that promotes white matter development. Now, we can begin to develop a therapy that isolates and delivers this lipid in a way that is safe for the unique challenges of these infants.” Benner is a neonatologist at Duke University and one of the co-founders of Tellus Therapeutics, a Duke spinout company developed with the help of the Duke University Office for Translation & Commercialization to bring this therapy from the bench into the neonatal intensive care unit. The fatty molecule identified in the study will be administered intravenously to patients in an upcoming clinical trial. This is significant because many of the infants who are part of this vulnerable population also have gastrointestinal issues and cannot safely be given milk or medication by mouth. The lipid molecule enters the brain and binds with stem cells there, encouraging the stem cells to become or produce a type of cell called oligodendrocytes. The oligodendrocytes are like a hub that allow for the production of white matter in the central nervous system. This newly produced white matter in pre-term infants prevents the neurological damage that would otherwise impact the child’s ability to move – the hallmarks of cerebral palsy. “The timing of brain injury is extremely difficult to predict, thus a treatment that could be safely given to all preterm babies at risk would be revolutionary,” said Agnes Chao, M.D., a former fellow in the Division of Neonatology and first author of the paper. The timing of brain injury is extremely difficult to predict “As a neonatologist, I’m so excited that I may be able to offer a treatment to families with babies that are affected by preterm brain injury who would otherwise have no other options,” Chao said. In addition to Benner and Chao, study authors include Pavle Matak, Kelly Pegram, James Powers, Collin Hutson, Rebecca Jo, Laura Dubois, J. Will Thompson, P. Brian Smith, Jason R. Gibson, Noelle E. Younge, Blaire Rikard, Simon G. Gregory, Ronald N. Goldberg, Mari L Shinohara, Estefany Y. Reyes, Chunlei Liu. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (1R01NS114578, T32HD094671, K12HD043494, T32HD043728, R01AG070826, R01MH127104, P41EB015897, 1UL1-TR002553), Jean and George Brumley Jr. Neonatal Perinatal Research Institute, with additional support from the Duke Scholars Award from the School of Medicine, Duke University Center for In Vivo Microscopy, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. To read the original article click here.

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World’s First Partial Heart Transplant Proves Successful in First Year

The AHA! Team — Wed, 29 May 2024 08:13:15 +0000

Journal of the American Medical Assocation via Duke Health – Novel procedure demonstrated valve growth & functionality in newly published study results The world’s first partial heart transplant has achieved what researchers have spent more than a year hoping for DURHAM, N.C. – The world’s first partial heart transplant has achieved what researchers have spent more than a year hoping for — functioning valves and arteries that grow along with the young patient, as hypothesized by the pioneering team behind the procedure at Duke Health. The procedure was performed in the spring of 2022, in an infant who needed heart valve replacement. The previous standard of care — using valves that were non-living — would not grow along with the child, requiring frequent replacement, entailing surgical procedures that carry a 50% mortality rate. A study led by Duke Health physicians, appearing online Jan. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the new manner of valve procurement used during the partial heart transplant led to two well-functioning valves and arteries that are growing in concert with the child as if they were native vessels. “This publication is proof that this technology works, this idea works, and can be used to help other children,” said Joseph W. Turek, M.D., Ph.D., first author of the study and Duke’s chief of pediatric cardiac surgery, who led the landmark procedure. The study also found the procedure requires about a quarter of the amount of immunosuppressant medication than a full heart transplant, potentially saving patients from detrimental side effects that might compound over decades. Turek said the innovation has paved the way for a domino heart transplant, where one heart is able to save two lives. During a domino heart transplant, a patient who has healthy valves but is in need of stronger heart muscle receives a full heart transplant; their healthy valves are then donated to another patient in need, creating a domino effect. “You could potentially double the number of hearts that are used for the benefit of children with heart disease,” Turek said. “Of all the hearts that are donated, roughly half meet the criteria to go on to be used for full transplant, but we believe there’s an equal number of hearts that could be used for valves.” You could potentially double the number of hearts that are used for the benefit of children with heart disease “If you introduce the donated hearts that weren’t being put to use into the supply chain and add the valves from domino heart transplants, that can create a substantial change,” Turek said. The partial heart transplant procedure has been performed 13 times at four centers around the world, including nine at Duke, several of which have been domino heart transplants. Turek said bringing this innovation to a clinical trial would be the next step to achieving the volume in procedures that would change the availability of hearts by a large amount. “This innovation adds a lot to the whole donation community,” Turek said, “because it’s treating more kids, while also honoring the wishes of selfless donor parents who’ve given the ultimate gift. It allows them to offer hope to another child in the process.” Preclinical data was supported by the Brett Boyer Foundation. In addition to Turek, study authors include Lillian Kang, Douglas Overbey, Michael P. Carboni, and Taufiek K. Rajab. To read the original article click here.

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New Study: Nine Out of Ten US Infants Experience Gut Microbiome Deficiency

AHA Publisher — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 08:00:22 +0000

Evolve Biosystems, Inc. via EurekAlert – DAVIS, Calif., January 21, 2020 – A new peer-reviewed study reveals that the vast majority of U.S. infants may be suffering from a substantial deficiency in an important bacterium key to breast milk utilization and immune system development, as well as protection against gut pathogens linked to common newborn conditions such as colic and diaper rash. According to the study published today in Scientific Reports, approximately nine out of ten infants are missing Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis) in their gut microbiome, a type of bacteria that plays a critical role in infant health and development. This specific type of gut bacteria has been widely documented as providing the most beneficial impact to infant gut health and possessing the ability to fully unlock the nutritional benefits of breast milk. The study is the largest to date to benchmark the widespread deficiency in gut bacteria among U.S. infants, and the resulting diminished function of their gut microbiomes. “The vast majority of infants are deficient in this key gut bacterium from the earliest weeks of life, and this is completely off the radar for most parents and pediatricians, alike” said study co-author Karl Sylvester, MD, Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics and Associate Dean of Maternal Child Health Research, Stanford University. “This study provides the clearest picture to date of just how widespread this issue is and highlights the need to address B. infantis deficiency in the infant gut right from the start.” B. infantis had been widely considered one of the most prevalent bacteria in the GI tracts of infants, accordingly its absence from such a wide swath of outwardly healthy infants is surprising. When present, B. infantis breaks down carbohydrates in human breast milk called human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) which are otherwise inaccessible to the infant. In fact, B. infantis differs from other Bifidobacteria species in its unique adaptation to human breastmilk and specifically in its ability to break down HMOs into usable nutrients. Perhaps more importantly, B. infantis is increasingly linked to the development of the infant immune system, protecting the infant intestinal tract from potentially dangerous bacteria as well as lower incidence of common childhood conditions like colic and diaper rash. Researchers also discovered that potentially dangerous bacteria comprised, on average, 93 percent of all bacteria in the infant gut microbiome, with the most prevalent bacteria being Escherichia coli (E. coli), Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus and Clostridium difficile (C. diff). Many of these bacteria are known to harbor genes related to antibiotic resistance. In fact, a total of 325 antibiotic resistant genes were found in the gut bacteria, with more than half (54 percent) of those genes being those that confer bacterial resistance to multiple antibiotics. “The infant gut is essentially a blank slate at birth, and rapidly acquires bacteria from mom and the environment. We were surprised not only by the extensive lack of good bacteria, but the incredibly high presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and an environment of antibiotic resistance that appears to be so widespread,” said Dr. Sylvester. “The infant gut microbiome in the U.S. is clearly dysfunctional, and we believe this is a critical factor underpinning many of the infant and childhood ailments we see today across the country.” Study Methodology Researchers collected fecal samples from 227 infants under 6 months of age during pediatrician office visits in five different states (CA, GA, OR, PA, SC). The samples were analyzed for bacterial type and amount present, which represents the bacterial composition in the infants’ guts. The fecal samples were assessed for bacterial ability to fully use human breast milk — a hallmark of the presence of health-promoting bacteria, as well as for the presence of antibiotic resistant genes in the bacteria. The researchers did not include samples from infants with jaundice, those who were actively undergoing antibiotic treatment, or those diagnosed with problems with absorbing carbohydrates in their intestine, due to the impact such conditions may have on the ability of the infant gut to carry out normal processes. Newborn Gut and the Impact on Newborn Health The infant gut requires the presence of thousands of different bacteria to perform different functions – from biological processes to the development of biological structures and systems. Infant gut dysbiosis is marked by a substantial imbalance between beneficial and potentially pathogenic bacteria in the GI tracts of newborn babies. There has been a strong evidence characterizing a substantial loss of Bifidobacteria in the infant gut over the past 100 years, with research pointing to numerous factors including increased C section delivery, increased use of antibiotics and increased use of infant formula. As a result of the loss of B. infantis, the infant gut is at greater risk for negative consequences including suboptimal access to the full value of human breast milk, compromised immune system development, an increase in harmful gut pathogens due to increased gut pH, and negative impact on the infant’s intestinal wall. To read the original article click here.

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