Neonatal health in discussion

Symposium on the health of newborns addresses current study results
The health of newborns is the focus of the Greifswald Symposium on Perinatal and Neonatal Epidemiology next weekend. There, the experts will discuss the results of the Greifswald neonatal study "SNiP - Survey of Neonates in Pomerania" on 19 and 20 June. Invited are physicians, nurses, social educators, epidemiologists and representatives of the media.

Infectious diseases during pregnancy can affect the health of newborns. (Image: freepeoplea / fotolia.com)

According to the results of the SNiP study, certain precautionary examinations in pregnant women are still rarely performed. For example, only ten percent of 5,000 pregnant women in the study could have been tested for group B streptococcus, the news agency dpa reports, citing Professor Matthias Heckmann, Head of Neonatology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine at the University Hospital Greifswald. "We demand that these examinations be transferred to the standard care of the health insurance companies and no longer have to be paid by the pregnant women," said Heckmann.

Since 2002, the health of newborns has been included in the study
At the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald the adult health-study SHIP (Study of Health in Pomerania) has been running for 20 years and in 2002 the program was extended by the newborn-examination SNiP. By the end of 2008, the study had collected data on more than 6,800 newborns, "collecting data from pregnancy to the newborn in the context of socio-demographic and genetic factors that are of enormous importance to the health care of the population," he said Project leader Prof. Matthias Heckmann. Since the beginning of 2013, the follow-up study SNiP II has been in progress, focusing on issues related to breastfeeding behavior and nutrition during pregnancy.

Infectious diseases in pregnancy pose a significant risk
According to the University of Greifswald, innate diseases such as malformations, preterm birth and growth reduction are among the most common causes of neonatal care. Some of the complaints are hereditary or are caused by maternal illnesses during pregnancy. For example, infectious diseases such as toxoplasmosis or a group B streptococcal infection could become dangerous for the baby during pregnancy. Corresponding investigations would therefore be appropriate here. However, many mothers refrain from such preventive examinations. Overall, the SniP study provides an enormous knowledge base on child health before and after birth and at the symposium, the new findings will now be discussed among the experts, according to the announcement of the University Hospital Greifswald. (Fp)