Month: February 2017

The first few months aren’t easy for parents of preterm babies.

When babies are born before 37 weeks gestation, they face a number of challenges before they even leave the hospital. Respiratory issues are common, so doctors often monitor preterm births for weeks, and while many premature babies grow up without any lasting health effects, their parents face an emotionally draining experience.
The challenges don’t end when the baby comes home. Premature babies are typically very small, and finding appropriate products for infant care can be difficult. Fortunately, several companies are trying to change that.

Recently, Huggies introduced a line of extra-small diapers designed for preemies.

Called the “Huggies Little Snugglers Nano Preemie Diapers,” they’re specially designed for newborns weighing two pounds or less. The new diapers are part of a program called No Baby Unhugged, and they feature a special design with an extra-soft liner to protect premature babies’ sensitive skin from irritation.

No Baby Unhugged also provides grants for volunteers at hospitals across Canada.

The name is literal; volunteers hold and hug babies shortly after birth, giving them a human touch when their moms can’t be there.
Human touch is incredibly important for infants and can even affect development. Scientists believe that this is because touch (especially hugs) calm babies, allowing them to sleep and fostering brain development. While some hospitals have made efforts to create artificial machines to comfort babies in the same manner, no technology seems to compare to the touch of an actual human.

The Huggies program recognizes some of the challenges that premature babies face.

Of course, the new diapers also address the needs of a large audience. In the United States alone, about 15 million premature babies are born every year, according to data from the World Health Organization.

One of Huggies’ competitors introduced a similar product in late 2016.

Pampers’ Swaddlers Preemie diapers are a size P-3, small enough for babies weighing only one pound. That product also packs in a number of advanced features, some of which are fairly groundbreaking.
The brand claims to have invested in 10,000 hours of research, which resulted in a “narrow core” design that helps with sleeping and positioning. The idea is to allow the baby’s hips to rest naturally, rather than forcing them apart, as is common with larger diapers.
The Huggies design also includes an umbilical cord cutout, which allows the baby’s belly button to heal, and an absorbent liner.

The diapers are marketed directly to hospitals, and much of the marketing language targets nurses.

They’re potentially beneficial for positioning babies during routine medical care, according to both Huggies and Pampers.
However, the diapers are also available commercially; at time of writing, a 30-pack of Huggies Little Snugglers Preemie diapers retailed for about $7.

In recent years, several companies have introduced car seats made specifically for preemies.

High-end preemie car seats can range up to $300, but there are plenty of perfectly functional models available for under $100.

No matter what size your baby is, car seat straps should sit at or just below your infant’s shoulders when they are rear-facing.

A preterm infant will be smaller than average, so most car seats provide inadequate protection. They can also be uncomfortable.

Every parent of a preterm infant has heard about kangaroo care.

It’s the practice of maintaining skin-to-skin contact with your baby, as constantly as possible. Some moms even figure out ways to keep their babies snuggled against their skin 24 hours a day!

This stretchy length of soft fabric binds a preterm infant tightly to the caregiver’s body.

It’s thin enough to provide a feather-light touch, but tough enough to keep babies tightly bound to their adult caregivers.

Of course, most of us simply can’t maintain kangaroo care 24/7.

For those moments when you have to put your baby down, only one thing can keep them feeling safe and warm. Swaddling blankets wrap a baby tightly, giving them a sense of womb-like comfort.

As your baby grows, you’ll want to upgrade your swaddling blanket.

These products are available in a variety of sizes to fit your baby like a glove. If you can’t hold your infant against your own skin, a swaddling blanket is the next best thing.

When you give birth to a preemie, you can’t just use any old bottle nipple.

Preterm babies have much smaller mouths than your typical newborn. Choose a baby bottle nipple that’s designed for an infant with low birth weight. These are softer, smaller, and easier to pull on than other designs.
Preemie nipples also let less air into your hungry baby’s stomach. That helps to prevent gas and acid reflux, which are woefully common among preterm babies.

No matter what sort of bottles and nipples you get, make sure they’re all free of the chemical bisphenol A, usually known as BPA.

For years, manufacturers used BPA in plastic products like baby bottles. When studies showed a link between BPA and certain problems in the endocrine system, though, many manufacturers discontinued use of the chemical.

When it’s time to give your preemie a bath, not just any bath tub will do.

You need a tub that’s soft enough to avoid irritating your baby’s delicate skin. Easy clean-up sure doesn’t hurt, either.

When the bath is over, simply dump the bathwater down the sink and hang your Puj Tub up to dry.

It never grows mold or mildew, and its flat-hanging design means you can store it just about anywhere.

Your doctor has given you a prescription. Now, you’re at the pharmacy.

You’re told that you can choose between the name-brand medication and its generic equivalent. If you’ve got insurance, there’s only a small price difference; if you don’t have insurance, the prices are a bit farther apart.
How much farther apart, exactly? The FDA says that, on average, generic drugs are 80 to 85 percent less expensive than their name-brand counterparts. Viagra, one of the most popular name-brand drugs, costs about $25 per 50-milligram tablet. Sildenafil, a generic alternative, costs less than $4 per 20-milligram tablet (recommended dosages vary between the two medications).

Contrary to popular belief, generic drugs don’t use different active ingredients.

The FDA requires generic medications to have the same active ingredients, strength, route of administration, and dosage as name-brand medicines. While the administration allows some small variances in purity, these are carefully controlled.
Generic drug manufacturers are allowed to have different inactive ingredients. Of course, inactive ingredients are just that—inactive. They are only present to hold the medication together while it does its job.

There is one important caveat to consider.

While the FDA requires drugs to be “biologically equivalent,” it allows some room for interpretation. The agency has a “bioequivalence range” of 80 to 125 percent.
Does this mean that generic drugs meet FDA requirements if they’re only 80 percent as effective as the alternatives? No, not quite. As the FDA says on its website, “There will always be a slight, but not medically important, level of natural variability—just as there is for one batch of brand name drug compared to the next batch of brand name product.”
In theory, generic drugs could be more than 80 percent dissimilar, but they would still have to contain the same active ingredients and present the same results in patients. Thanks to rigorous monitoring from the FDA, ineffective drugs don’t make it to market. Some generics may even work better than branded drugs for some patients.
Still, that’s what the FDA says. What about what patients say?

Some patients claim that name-brand drugs are more effective, but the science doesn’t back that up.

Numerous studies show that generic drugs are just as effective as branded drugs. A survey of 2,070 studies from 1996 to 2007 showed an average difference in absorption of less than 3.5 percent.
This wasn’t always in favor of branded drugs, as some generics were absorbed more readily. However, the small degree of difference is what’s most important; the FDA notes that the differences “would be expected and acceptable, whether for one batch of brand-name drug tested against another batch of the same brand, or for a generic tested against a name-brand drug.”

So, why do some patients claim that certain branded drugs are more effective?

In some cases, they are more effective—for those patients, anyway. The minor differences in inactive ingredients might prompt a significant metabolic change for the individual. Once again, this is highly unlikely, but it does occur on occasion.
Even so, the more likely answer is the placebo effect. Changing from a purple pill to a dull blue pill could convince some patients that they’re getting a less effective drug. Doctors are often careful to point out the identical active ingredients, but even so, the placebo effect is a powerful thing.

Even if your insurance makes the price difference negligible, there’s a reason to go generic.

Let’s assume that your insurance provider covers most of the cost of your prescription. In fact, we’ll even assume that you’d pay the same co-pay, regardless of whether your drug is generic or brand name.
Generally, you should still choose generic. You’re only seeing part of the price, and the rest of the expense is passed on to your insurance provider. If you receive medicine at a hospital, the hospital may also cover some of the cost. In either case, you’re helping to drive up the cost of health care, and your insurance provider will likely pass on the expense to other customers.
This is part of the reason that insurance premiums have soared over the past several decades. Of course, that doesn’t make you a bad person if you opt for brand-name prescriptions, but remember: They contain the exact same active ingredients.

The bad news: some drugs don’t have generic alternatives, mainly due to patent protections.

Patents protect drugs for 20 years, and they’re awarded to the original drug manufacturer. They protect against generics that offer the same mechanism of action, and brand-name manufacturers can essentially charge whatever they’d like.
Because drugs take a tremendous amount of money to develop, drug companies keep their prices high, and generic manufacturers are forced to sit on the sidelines waiting for their turn to sell drugs to consumers. The tradeoff is that generic drugs can drastically undercut their competitors when they finally make it to the market.
You can find out whether your prescription drug has an approved generic alternative by checking out the Orange Book, which is maintained by the FDA.
There are also downloadable apps on the Apple App Store and on the Google Play store, although the simplest course of action is to simply ask your pharmacist.

Ultimately, you should talk to your doctor before switching from any medication.

Generic drugs are less expensive, and purchasing them can help to drive down costs in health care. If you’re picking up a new medication and you’ve got a choice, they’re almost always a smarter purchase. The FDA agrees, even if some pharmaceutical companies disagree.
But there’s one thing that doctors, drug manufacturers, and the FDA all agree on: Don’t trust the internet as your sole source of medical information. While generic drugs are usually a much better choice, your physician and pharmacist can help you determine whether you should switch medications.