Many babies born very early need help to breathe, and doctors try to give that help through soft prongs in the nose rather than a tube in the windpipe. Two large studies from China found that adding either rapid, gentle air vibrations or extra timed "breaths" to the usual steady nasal pressure…

Probiotics are powders of live, friendly bacteria that some hospitals give to babies born very early, to help protect the gut from a serious illness called necrotizing enterocolitis. Two 2026 studies from Sweden and the Netherlands found that a carefully made three-strain probiotic was linked to…

Babies can now be protected from RSV, a common virus that can make very young babies seriously ill, in two ways: a vaccine given to the mother during pregnancy, or a protective antibody injection given to the baby. Three studies from 2026, from the United States, Australia and Europe, show that…

A large German study that followed people from birth to age 34 found that most adults who were born very early or very small are doing well in life, with good relationships and financial independence. About one in five of the very-early-born group, however, faced lasting money and social…

If your newborn was ever started on intravenous antibiotics in the hospital — for a suspected infection, a confirmed bloodstream infection, or a urinary tract infection — you may have been told treatment would last anywhere from a few days to three weeks, often without a clear explanation of why…

Vitamin B12 is a nutrient that babies need to build healthy blood and a growing brain. Before birth, a baby stores the B12 it receives from its mother, and after birth a breastfed baby continues to get B12 through breast milk. When a mother is low in B12 — because of her diet, a pregnancy illness…

Many babies born very early need a medicine called surfactant to help their lungs stay open. Researchers recently followed 147 of these babies for two years after they received that medicine in one of two different ways, to see whether the gentler method left them developing just as well — or even…

For babies born very early, or living with ongoing heart or lung problems, a common winter virus called RSV can mean a trip to the hospital, and until recently, protecting them meant a shot every single month all season long. A major new study of nearly 1,000 babies found that a newer, single-shot…

Some babies are born with a hip joint that is shallow or loose, a condition called developmental dysplasia of the hip. Four studies from 2025 show that European countries check babies' hips in very different ways, that early scanning found cases in time in one hospital, and that treatment started…

A new Swedish trial tested whether a simple steroid eye drop could help protect the eyes of very premature babies from a sight-threatening condition called retinopathy of prematurity. Fewer babies who got the drops went on to need eye surgery or injections than babies who got a placebo — but the…

When a baby is born very early, doctors typically wait about one to two weeks before doing the first ultrasound of the brain, because that is when bleeding and other injuries are believed to become fully visible. A new study of 365 premature babies found that scanning the brain on the very first…

For babies born between 30 and 33 weeks of pregnancy, doctors have long faced a choice: start milk feeds slowly while a drip provides nutrition, or begin full milk feeds right away. A major UK trial called FEED1 tested both approaches in over 2,000 babies and found that starting full milk feeds…