Pyloric Stenosis
In this condition, the pylorus, the passage that leads from the stomach into the small intestine, is narrow because of a thickening of the muscle. The cause is unknown, and it is more common in boys than in girls.
Babies With Down Syndrome
This is by far the most common of a range of conditions called trisomies, in which one pair of chromosomes has an extra chromosome, making three. In Down syndrome, there are three number 21 chromosomes. Affected infants characteristically have [...]
Congenital Heart Disease
The most common form of heart disease in newborns is a hole in the ventricular septum – the thin dividing wall between the right and left ventricles (pumping chambers). About four weeks after birth, blood will “shunt” from left to right [...]
Hypospadias and Epispadias
In a very small number of male babies – about 0.3 percent – there is an abnormality in the position of the urethral opening on the penis. In epispadias, the opening is on the upper surface of the penis, and the penis may curve upward; in [...]
Baby Dislocated Hip
In about 0.4 percent of infants, the ball at the head of the thigh bone does not fit snugly into its socket in the hip bone. In a newborn, this is a potential rather than an actual problem. It is much more common in girls than in boys, and following [...]
Newborn Breathing Problems
A baby with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) may stop breathing for a short time. This is called apnea. Although it sounds very frightening, apnea is not uncommon, and most babies start breathing again after gentle stimulation such as a [...]
Special Care Babies
About 7 percent of all babies born in the U.S. weigh less than 5½ pounds (2.5 kilograms), either because they are premature or for other reasons. All low birth-weight babies need special care.
When we say a baby is premature we mean that he [...]