Colostrum is the first form of breast milk produced after a pregnancy, and usually is present for 3 or 4 days until a mother’s normal breast milk comes in.  It has a yellow tinge to it and a thick consistency.  Colostrum is extremely important to a newborn infant while breastfeeding.   Beneficial factors include: easy for the infant to digest, packed with antibodies to help fight off infection and sickness, and acts as a natural laxative of sorts to help the baby with his or her first bowel movements.
Colostrum has a …

Infant breastfeeding provides for the optimal amount of nutrition for any newborn infant, especially in the NICU.  Breast milk is packed with proteins, fats, and vitamins that are crucial, not only to the baby’s health, but to the mother’s as well.
Under normal circumstances, a mother of a newborn infant will have the option to breastfeed her baby.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) strongly recommends mothers breastfeed their babies until at least 6 months of age.
However, in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), breastfeeding may or may not be an …

There are 13 million premature births worldwide according to a report recently issued by the US group March of Dimes.  That comes to preterm births equal to 9.6% of all births in the world.
In regards to the study, a preterm birth is referred to as being under 37 weeks gestation.
The problems seems to be the highest in Africa and Asia, where the number of premature births equals 85% of all premature births in the world.   Poverty, malnutrition, and lack of prenatal care may have roles in this.
North America, which includes …

The swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus, is sweeping across the world, and families, especially with younger children and infants, need to take extra precautions.  This is an article written by a dad blogger, and is re-published here with full consent.
It is important to remember that infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit are particularly vulnerable to viruses such as the flu, and the H1N1 virus could cause even more serious issues.  It is best to take extra precautions to ensure the safety and limited exposure of NICU …

When a mother has a high risk pregnancy, there is a possibility that her baby could be born prematurely, and would need to be placed in the NICU, or neonatal intensive care unit. There is also the chance that a baby could be delivered unexpectedly early to a mother with a normal pregnancy. Regardless of how the preterm delivery came about, many parents are faced with thereality of having a baby in the NICU.
The goal of this article is to prepare parents for what they can expect to see when …