Maternal predictors of infant beverage consumption: results from the Nurture cohort study

Objective:The goal of the present study was to estimate prevalence and maternal risk factors for infant beverage consumption.Design:Observational birth cohort.Setting:Central North Carolina, USA.Participants:Mothers 20–36 weeks pregnant were surveyed every 3 months through their infant’s first year (n 666) on their sociodemographics and infant’s consumption frequency of 100 % fruit and vegetable juices and sugar-sweetened-beverages (SSB). Repeated-measure models, using a compound symmetry covariance structure, were used to assess the association of sociodemographic and maternal predictors with introducing juice and SSB separately and explored interaction terms with time to determine how the effects of the predictors change over time.Results:On average, mothers were 28 years old, 72 % were non-Hispanic Black and 59 % were low-income. We found time by race, income, education, maternal age and breast-feeding duration interactions for both juice and SSB consumption. At approximately 6–7 months of age through 12 months of age, being Black, having a lower income (≤$US 20 000 v. >$US 20 000 per year) and education (less than high-school degree v. high-school degree or higher), being younger (<26 years v. ≥26 years) and breast-feeding for fewer than 26 weeks were each associated with introduction of both juice and SSB consumption.Conclusions:Future efforts are needed to raise awareness on the importance of national recommendations of limiting juice and SSB for infants, together with decreasing disparities in unhealthy beverage intake early in life.

Intracranial Hemorrhage and Autoimmune Thrombocytopenia in a Neonate

Neonatal thrombocytopenia is a rare complication of maternal autoimmune thrombocytopenia, and no maternal predictors of its gravity and potential complications have been identified. Neonatal cerebral hemorrhage, a feared event in the setting of autoimmune thrombocytopenia, is fortunately uncommon, but it can occur in utero or in the perinatal period, with potentially serious consequences. The authors report the case of a boy born to a mother affected by autoimmune thrombocytopenia, who presented with severe thrombocytopenia at birth and developed intracranial hemorrhage despite mild maternal thrombocytopenia at delivery and a prompt preventive treatment of the newborn. Platelet count should be tested at birth in all babies born from mothers with autoimmune thrombocytopenia, irrespective of maternal platelets counts during pregnancy or at delivery, and should be closely monitored during the first days of life. Systematic early and serial cranial ultrasound might be advocated in the setting of neonatal thrombocytopenia.