Pandemic as an Organizational Paradigm for Neonatal Care: Long-Term Impact of Mother–Infant Separation Practice During COVID-19
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Outcome Measures
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Statistical Analysis
2.4. Ethics
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Cohort A Separation | Cohort B Rooming-In | p Value | |
---|---|---|---|
Mother-infants’ dyads | n = 30 | n = 30 | |
Maternal age at delivery | 33.2 (30.8 to 35.5) | 33.3 (30.8 to 35.8) | 0.964 |
Native Italian, No. (%) | 19 (63.3) | 16 (53.3) | 0.517 |
Gestational diabetes, No. (%) | 7 (23.3) | 3 (10.0) | 0.114 |
Thyroid disorders, No. (%) | 1 (3.3) | 4 (13.3) | 0.238 |
Urinary or genital tract infection, No. (%) | 1 (3.3) | 1 (3.3) | 1.000 |
Intrauterine growth restriction, No. (%) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | NA |
Antibiotic prophylaxis, No. (%) | 8 (26.7) | 10 (33.3) | 0.846 |
Twin pregnancy, No. (%) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | NA |
Antenatal corticosteroids, No. (%) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | NA |
Caesarean section, No. (%) | 14 (48.3) | 15 (50.0) | 0.591 |
Symptoms related to SARS-CoV2 infection of mothers | |||
Symptomatic infection, No. (%) | 18 (60.0) | 15 (50.0) | 0.459 |
Fever, No. (%) | 11 (36.7) | 6 (20.0) | 0.238 |
Cough, rhinitis, or sore throat, No. (%) | 13 (43.3) | 12 (40.0) | 0.480 |
Ageusia or dysgeusia, No. (%) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (3.3) | 0.273 |
Myalgia or arthralgia, No. (%) | 3 (10.0) | 1 (3.3) | 0.316 |
Headache, No. (%) | 3 (10.0) | 1 (3.3) | 0.316 |
Chest pain or dyspnea, No. (%) | 1 (3.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0.307 |
Hospitalization due to COVID-19 | 1 (3.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0.307 |
Neonatal features | |||
Female sex, No. (%) | 11 (36.7) | 13 (43.3) | 0.396 |
Gestational age, weeks | 38.6 (37.9 to 39.3) | 38.8 (38.4 to 39.2) | 0.617 |
Inborn, No. (%) | 26 (86.7) | 28 (93.3) | 0.584 |
Firstborn, No. (%) | 13 (43.3) | 12 (40.0) | 0.305 |
Resuscitation at birth, No. (%) | 1 (3.3) | 1 (3.3) | 1.000 |
Birth weight, g | 3367 (3202 to 3531) | 3325 (3181 to 3470) | 0.703 |
Birth length, cm | 49.0 (48.1 to 49.8) | 49.45 (48.5 to 50.3) | 0.449 |
Cohort A Separation | Cohort B Rooming-In | p value | |
Birth head circumference, cm | 33.9 (33.1 to 34.7) | 34.1 (33.7 to 34.5) | 0.612 |
5-min APGAR score | 9.5 (9.3 to 9.8) | 9.5(9.4 to 9.8) | 1.000 |
pH on cord blood | 7.24 (7.20 to 7.28) | 7.26 (7.2 to 7.2) | 0.671 |
Base excess on cord blood, mmol/L | −6.1 (−8.2 to −3.9) | −5.1 (−8.9 to −1.2) | 0.612 |
Neonatal clinical conditions during hospital stay | |||
Respiratory distress, No. (%) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | NA |
Cough, rhinitis, or conjunctivitis, No. (%) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | NA |
Feeding intolerance, No. (%) | 3 (10.0) | 2 (6.7) | 0.549 |
Diarrhoea, No. (%) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | NA |
Jaundice requiring phototherapy, No. (%) | 4 (13.3) | 2 (6.7) | 0.689 |
Pneumonia, No. (%) | 1 (3.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0.601 |
Antibiotic treatment, No. (%) | 2 (6.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0.355 |
Variables | ß | S.E. | Wald | p Value | Odds Ratio (OR) | 95 C.I for OR | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lower | Upper | ||||||
Rooming-In | 2.467 | 1.020 | 5.853 | 0.016 * | 11.783 | 1.597 | 86.916 |
Maternal age | −2.025 | 1.142 | 3.144 | 0.076 | 0.132 | 0.014 | 1.238 |
Firstborn | −0.286 | 0.876 | 0.107 | 0.744 | 0.751 | 0.135 | 4.185 |
Native Italian | −0.698 | 0.942 | 0.548 | 0.459 | 0.498 | 0.078 | 3.156 |
Maternal symptomatic infection | −1.209 | 0.928 | 1.696 | 0.193 | 0.299 | 0.048 | 1.841 |
Group 1 | Group 2 | p Value | |
---|---|---|---|
Unstandardized parameters | |||
Weight, g | 8129 (7562 to 8695) | 7393 (6912 to 7874) | 0.005 * |
Length, cm | 69.2 (66.9 to 71.6) | 67.9 (65.6 to 69.8) | 0.298 |
Cranial circumference, cm | 44.2 (41.6 to 46.8) | 42.5 (40.0 to 44.9) | 0.279 |
Standardized Z-Score | |||
Weight, g | 0.5 (−0.3 to 0.6) | −0.2 (−0.8 to 0.4) | 0.387 |
Length, cm | 0.5 (−0.3 to 1.5) | 0.8 (−0.2 to 1.7) | 0.645 |
Cranial circumference, cm | 0.5 (−1.1 to 2.3) | 0.0 (−1.4 to 1.6) | 0.649 |
Cohort A Separation | Cohort B Rooming-In | p Value | |
---|---|---|---|
Physical scale (M) | |||
M standard | 103.1 (96.8 to 109.39) | 101.1 (96.7 to 105.5) | 0.606 |
M centile | 56.0 (43.15 to 68.8) | 52.7 (43.2 to 62.2) | 0.587 |
Adaptive Behaviour scale (A) | |||
A standard | 100.2 (95.1 to 105.4) | 97.6 (92.53 to 102.77) | 0.464 |
A centile | 50.8 (39.9 to 61.8) | 43.5 (32.3 to 54.6) | 0.338 |
Social-emotional scale (S) | |||
S standard | 99.7 (94.9 to 104.6) | 100.6 (94.5 to 106.62) | 0.820 |
S centile | 50.1 (39.6 to 60.6) | 49.7 (37.5 to 61.8) | 0.957 |
Cognitive scale (G) | |||
G standard | 101.1 (95.5 to 106.8) | 103.9 (98.6 to 109.2) | 0.477 |
G centile | 53.21 (42.2 to 64.3) | 57.1 (46.2 to 68.0) | 0.607 |
Communication scale (C) | |||
C standard | 97.8 (93.0 to 102.7) | 99.6 (93.7 to 105.5) | 0.629 |
C centile | 44.9 (35.7 to 58.0) | 100.5 (34.8 to 54.9) | 0.701 |
General Development score | 100.5 (95.3 to 105.7) | 100.4 (93.8 to 106.9) | 0.984 |
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Di Chiara, M.; De Santis, B.; Gloria, F.; Natale, F.; Ferazzoli, A.; Laccetta, G.; Marciano, A.; Brunelli, R.; Terrin, G. Pandemic as an Organizational Paradigm for Neonatal Care: Long-Term Impact of Mother–Infant Separation Practice During COVID-19. Children 2025, 12, 592. https://doi.org/10.3390/children12050592
Di Chiara M, De Santis B, Gloria F, Natale F, Ferazzoli A, Laccetta G, Marciano A, Brunelli R, Terrin G. Pandemic as an Organizational Paradigm for Neonatal Care: Long-Term Impact of Mother–Infant Separation Practice During COVID-19. Children. 2025; 12(5):592. https://doi.org/10.3390/children12050592
Chicago/Turabian StyleDi Chiara, Maria, Benedetta De Santis, Flavia Gloria, Fabio Natale, Annarita Ferazzoli, Gianluigi Laccetta, Alessandra Marciano, Roberto Brunelli, and Gianluca Terrin. 2025. "Pandemic as an Organizational Paradigm for Neonatal Care: Long-Term Impact of Mother–Infant Separation Practice During COVID-19" Children 12, no. 5: 592. https://doi.org/10.3390/children12050592
APA StyleDi Chiara, M., De Santis, B., Gloria, F., Natale, F., Ferazzoli, A., Laccetta, G., Marciano, A., Brunelli, R., & Terrin, G. (2025). Pandemic as an Organizational Paradigm for Neonatal Care: Long-Term Impact of Mother–Infant Separation Practice During COVID-19. Children, 12(5), 592. https://doi.org/10.3390/children12050592