Babies who spend time in newborn intensive care are much more likely than other babies to have permanent hearing loss. Two studies published in 2026 by a research team in Nottingham found that the same illnesses that damage hearing often affect the rest of the body too, and that children with…

Two large research reviews published in 2026 compared the two main treatments for retinopathy of prematurity, an eye condition affecting babies born very early. Injections of anti-VEGF medicine left children with much less short-sightedness than laser treatment, but the disease was more likely to…

Rubbing a gentle, everyday oil — such as sunflower or coconut oil — onto a premature baby's skin, often as part of a soft massage, appears to help the baby put on a little extra weight, according to a large 2024 review that pooled the results of many earlier studies. The added weight was modest, on…

Premature babies can develop a serious eye condition called retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP, in which blood vessels in the back of the eye grow abnormally and, in severe cases, can pull the retina loose and cause blindness. A recent study called FIREFLEYE next followed 100 very premature…