Father newborn skin-to-skin wheelchair transfer from delivery room to neonatal care unit: Possible change in practices.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the transfer of newborns from the delivery room to the neonatal care unit with their fathers on wheelchairs in terms of the safety of the procedure and paternal anxiety. METHODS: A prospective observational single-center before-and-after pilot study was conducted from February to May 2018 at the University Maternity Hospital of Nantes. Safe transfer was judged on the basis of episodes of hypothermia or hypoglycemia. Paternal anxiety was assessed with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale after newborn transfer. RESULTS: Overall, 70 preterm newborns were enrolled, 44 were carried in wheelchairs in the father's arms (target group) and 26 were transferred in an incubator (control group). After adjusting for gestational age and birthweight, there were no statistically significantly differences between the target and the control group in the rates of hypothermia (43.9% vs 30.8%, p = 0,59) and hypoglycemia (9.52% vs 19.23%, p = 0,19). The STAI scale score was not significantly different between groups after incubator transfer or wheelchair transfer, at 35 ± 8.2 and 38 ± 10.2, respectively (p = 0.07). CONCLUSION: Transferring a newborn to the neonatal care unit via wheelchair with the father is a safe alternative to incubator transfer.

Review: Why screen for severe combined immunodeficiency disease?

Newborn screening for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is now routinely performed in many countries across Europe and around the world. The number of T-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) reflects T cell levels. TREC quantification is possible using dried blood spot (DBS) samples already collected from newborns to screen for other conditions. This method is very sensitive and highly specific. Data in the literature show that the survival rate for children with SCID is much higher when the disease is detected through early screening, as opposed to a later diagnosis. Newborns diagnosed with SCID may receive the appropriate care quickly, before the onset of serious infectious complications, which raises survival rates, improves quality of life, and limits side effects and treatment costs. At the request of the French Ministry of Health, France's National Authority for Health (Haute Autorité de Santé) is expected to issue recommendations on this topic soon. The nationwide DEPISTREC study, involving 48 maternity units across France, showed that routine SCID screening is feasible and effective. Such screening offers the additional benefit of also diagnosing non-SCID lymphopenia within the infant population.