The Incubator

Send us a textFunisitis increases the risk of death or cerebral palsy in extremely preterm infants.Jain VG, Parikh NA, Rysavy MA, Shukla VV, Saha S, Hintz S, Jobe A, Carlo WA, Ambalavanan N; Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD Neonatal Research Network.Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2025 Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textCord Blood Treatment for Children With Cerebral Palsy: Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.Finch-Edmondson M, Paton MCB, Webb A, Reza Ashrafi M, Blatch-Williams RK, Cox CS Jr, Crompton K, Griffin AR, Kim M, Kosmach S, Kurtzberg J, Nouri M, Ri Suh M, Sun J, Zarrabi M, Novak I.Pediatrics. 2025 Apr 11:e2024068999. doi: 10.1542/peds.2024-068999. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40210215Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textLung Recruitment Before Surfactant Administration in Extremely Preterm Neonates: 2-Year Follow-Up of a Randomized Clinical Trial.Gallini F, De Rose DU, Iuliano R, Romeo DM, Tana M, Paladini A, Fusco FP, Nobile S, Cota F, Tirone C, Aurilia C, Lio A, Esposito A, Costa S, D'Andrea V, Ventura ML, Carnielli V, Dani C, Mosca F, Fumagalli M, Scarpelli G, Giordano L, Fasolato V, Petrillo F, Betta P, Solinas A, Gitto E, Gargano G, Mescoli G, Martinelli S, Di Fabio S, Bernardo I, Tina LG, Staffler A, Stasi I, Mondello I, Scapillati E, Vedovato S, Maffei G, Bove A, Vitaliti M, Terrin G, Lago P, Gizzi C, Strozzi C, Villani PE, Berardi A, Cacace C, Bracaglia G, Pascucci E, Cools F, Pillow JJ, Polglase G, Pastorino R, van Kaam AH, Mercuri E, Orfeo L, Vento G; IN-REC-SUR-E Study Group; Malguzzi S, Rigotti C, Cecchi A, Nigro G, Costabile CD, Roma E, Sindico P, Venafra R, Mattia C, Conversano M, Ballardini E, Manganaro A, Balestri E, Gallo C, Catenazzi P, Astori MG, Maranella E, Grassia C, Maiolo K, Castellano D, Massenzi L, Chiodin E, Gallina MR, Consigli C, Sorrentino E, Bonato S, Mancini M, Perniola R, Giannuzzo S, Tranchina E, Cardilli V, Dito L, Regoli D, Tormena F, Battajon N, Arena R, Allais B, Guidotti I, Roversi F, Meli V, Tulino V, Casati A.JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Sep 3;7(9):e2435347. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.35347.PMID: 39320892 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textMother's Own Milk Provision During the First 12 Weeks of Life by Gestational Age.Patel AL, Wilson J, Holmes M, Johnson TJ.JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Mar 3;8(3):e250024. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.0024.PMID: 40042846 Free PMC article.Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textEffects of liberal versus restrictive transfusion strategies on intermittent hypoxaemia in extremely low birthweight infants: secondary analyses of the ETTNO randomised controlled trial.Franz AR, Engel C, Bassler D, Rüdiger M, Thome UH, Maier RF, Krägeloh-Mann I, Essers J, Bührer C, Bittrich HJ, Roll C, Höhn T, Ehrhardt H, Boettger R, Körner HT, Stein A, Neuberger P, Henriksen TB, Greisen G, Poets CF; ETTNO Investigators.Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2025 Mar 26:fetalneonatal-2024-327643. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2024-327643. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40139741Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textAdvancing neonatal autopsy by strengthening physician belief and fostering effective family communication.Kratimenos P, Simonti G, Kinney HC.Pediatr Res. 2025 Mar 31. doi: 10.1038/s41390-025-04031-y. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40164873Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textIn this episode, Dr. Marlon Timothy shares his journey as a neonatologist, discussing his experiences in Trinidad and Tobago and the evolution of neonatal care. He highlights the challenges faced upon returning from training in Toronto, the establishment of neonatal units, and the implementation of therapeutic hypothermia. Dr. Timothy emphasizes the importance of training and collaboration in improving neonatal outcomes and shares insights into the ongoing efforts to enhance maternal and neonatal health in Trinidad and Tobago. In this conversation, Dr. Marlon Timothy discusses various innovative interventions in neonatal care, the importance of funding and government support, the training and development of neonatologists, the role of research and data in improving care, and the challenges of maintaining work-life balance in a demanding field. He emphasizes the need for global collaboration to enhance neonatal outcomes and shares insights from his experiences in Trinidad and Tobago.Link to episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/jUyLLaYLFHYSupport the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textIn this episode of The Incubator, Ben and Daphna speak with Dr. Scott Duncan, Division Chief at the University of Louisville, about the critical importance of medical billing and coding in neonatology. The discussion explores how accurate documentation and thoughtful use of codes can impact everything from individual reimbursement to hospital funding and staffing. Dr. Duncan explains the key differences between critical care and intensive care coding, highlighting how misunderstanding these definitions can lead to missed opportunities for appropriate billing. The conversation also delves into the complexities of CPT and ICD-10 codes, bundled versus unbundled services, and how Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) systems influence hospital revenue. They discuss how proper coding affects downstream resources, including staffing, and why the financial viability of neonatal units depends in part on getting this right. Dr. Duncan reflects on the need for better education in this area, particularly for trainees, and shares practical resources and upcoming initiatives aimed at helping clinicians build this essential skill set. This episode offers an eye-opening look at a topic often overlooked in medical training, but vital to the sustainability of neonatal care. Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

Send us a textIn this Tech Tuesday episode, Ben and Daphna welcome Xina Quan, co-founder and CEO of PyrAmes, to introduce a groundbreaking neonatal device: the Boppli. Developed from Stanford research, the Boppli is a non-invasive, wearable blood pressure monitor that provides continuous, real-time readings—without the need for cuffs or arterial catheters.FDA-cleared for babies under five kilograms, the Boppli uses a soft, adhesive-free band that wraps gently around an extremity. Backed by 3,400 hours of clinical validation, the Boppli has shown accuracy approaching that of invasive arterial lines according to the team at Pyrames.Ben and Daphna explore how this innovation could reshape blood pressure monitoring for hypotensive and unstable neonates. Quan shares her vision of the Boppli becoming as commonplace as pulse oximetry in NICUs—empowering care teams with precise, painless data they can finally trust.As she puts it, “Half the battle is having good data—this is a way to finally get it.” Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below. Enjoy!

This discussion dives into groundbreaking studies in neonatal care. Key topics include the surprising role of inhaled nitric oxide in predicting survival for preterm infants. Emotional complexities of maternal decision regret after extremely preterm births are explored, revealing significant impacts on care choices. An AI-driven approach to nutrition planning shows promise in outperforming traditional methods. Additionally, unexpected benefits of xylitol chewing gum for reducing preterm births in low-resource settings are highlighted, along with critical insights on the risks of therapeutic hypothermia.