Infant Development and Preterm Care

Preterm birth, defined as delivery before 37 weeks of gestation, affects roughly one in ten births worldwide and is the leading cause of death in children under five. Researchers study how early arrival disrupts brain development, tracking outcomes ranging from infant mortality and neonatal complications to cognitive function, executive functioning, and behavioral difficulties that can persist into adulthood. Neonatal intensive care units have become sites of active intervention, with approaches like kangaroo mother care — sustained skin-to-skin contact between parent and infant — and family-centered care models showing measurable effects on survival and neurodevelopment. Open questions center on how to improve long-term developmental surveillance so that children who appear healthy at discharge are still reliably identified and supported if delays emerge later, and on understanding which biological and social factors explain why outcomes vary so widely among infants born at the same gestational age.

Works

74,105

Total citations

844,434

Keywords

Preterm BirthNeurodevelopmental OutcomesInfant MortalityFamily-Centered CareNeonatal Intensive Care UnitCognitive Function