The Incubator

Send us Fan Mail

In this moving episode, Dr. Ben Courchia and Dr. Daphna Barbeau are joined by LaToshia Rouse, a certified doula and patient engagement consultant, and Dr. Jessica DiBari from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Together, they share insights from their two Parent Perspective articles in the special issue of Children, which focus on the NICU experience and the critical transition to home.

LaToshia and Jessica describe the NICU as a culture all its own—one that parents enter suddenly, without preparation, and often with a sense of trauma and grief. They discuss the psychological distress families carry, the challenges of bonding with fragile infants, and the ways communication can either deepen wounds or help parents feel empowered. Practical steps like hand hugs, skin-to-skin care, and peer support emerge as powerful tools for connection.

The conversation then shifts to life after discharge, which both guests describe as one of the most daunting transitions. From feeding challenges and equipment management to the constant worry about emergencies, families must adapt quickly while navigating limited community support. LaToshia and Jessica emphasize the need for honest preparation, early planning, and continued guidance that helps parents shed the “fragile baby” mindset and embrace their child’s resilience.

This episode highlights how listening to families transforms not only the NICU experience but also the long journey that follows.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Dr. Daphna Barbeau speaks with Dr. Paige Terrien Church and Dr. Ashwini Lakshmanan about one of the most delicate yet essential aspects of neonatal care: communication. Drawing on their recent articles, the discussion highlights how the words we choose in the NICU profoundly shape families’ experiences, hopes, and perceptions of their child’s future.

Dr. Church addresses the discomfort many clinicians feel when discussing disability, emphasizing how entrenched medical training and ableism can unintentionally bias conversations. She introduces the concepts of microethics—the subtle, everyday interactions between families and providers—and how language choices like “risk” versus “possibility” can dramatically shift tone and meaning. The group explores how framing outcomes around abilities and opportunities, rather than limitations, helps families make sense of uncertainty with dignity and clarity.

Dr. Lakshmanan’s qualitative work brings in the voices of parents, revealing how uncertainty permeates the NICU journey and affects bonding, mental health, and confidence. Together, the guests highlight strategies for building trust, addressing parental guilt, and creating systems of support during the transition from hospital to home.

This episode challenges clinicians to pause, examine their own biases, and recognize language as a tool as powerful as any intervention delivered in the NICU.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Tim Nelin and Dr. Yarden Fraiman, two authors from the recently published special issue of Children on the life course implications of preterm birth. Together, they explore how inequities—both environmental and social—can shape the long-term health trajectories of preterm infants.

Dr. Nelin introduces the idea of “micro” and “macro” environments, showing how factors such as air pollution, green space, violence, and neighborhood social vulnerability not only contribute to preterm birth risk but also affect infants once they leave the NICU. His research underscores how the same exposures tied to prematurity continue to drive health disparities long after hospital discharge.

Dr. Fraiman focuses on ADHD as a case study of inequity across the life course. He describes the “ADHD care cascade,” illustrating how systemic bias and structural racism impact recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of ADHD among children born preterm. The conversation highlights how inequities layer over time, widening gaps in health and educational outcomes.

While the challenges are significant, the discussion also points to solutions—ranging from policy interventions and community partnerships to family-centered approaches. This episode emphasizes the urgent need to think upstream, addressing the drivers of inequity to create meaningful change for preterm infants and their families.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

This episode sets the stage for a collection of conversations inspired by a recently published special issue in Children: Implications of Preterm Birth for Health and Well-Being Over the Life Course. Host Dr. Daphna Barbeau is joined by the editors, Dr. Susan Hintz and Dr. Jonathan Litt of Stanford University, to discuss why the concept of “life course” is so critical for understanding the long-term impact of preterm birth.

Dr. Hintz and Dr. Litt explain how survival is only the beginning of the story. Preterm birth often shapes health trajectories well into childhood and adulthood, influenced not only by medical factors but also by family, environment, and community supports. They highlight how the issue’s twelve articles bring together diverse perspectives—from developmental science to family voices—that reveal both the challenges and opportunities faced by preterm infants and their families.

For busy clinicians, this conversation reframes day-to-day NICU care within a broader, lifelong context. It shows how even routine interactions in the NICU can influence resilience, parental well-being, and future outcomes. More than an introduction, this episode is an invitation to think differently about what it means to care for premature infants—not just today, but across their entire life course.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us a text

In this episode of At the Bench, hosts Dr. Misty Good and Dr. Betsy Crouch sit down with Dr. AnneMarie Stroustrup, Chair of Pediatrics at Zucker School of Medicine, Physician-in-Chief at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, and senior vice president of the pediatric service line at Northwell Health.

Dr. Stroustrup reflects on her path from early work in biotechnology to training as a neonatologist and physician scientist. She shares how volunteer experiences in an under-resourced emergency department shaped her decision to pursue medicine, and how her MPH in epidemiology provided the tools to investigate critical questions about fetal and neonatal exposures.

The conversation highlights her research on environmental chemicals—particularly phthalates—and their links to outcomes such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia, work within the NIH ECHO program, and the importance of large-scale, collaborative science. Dr. Stroustrup also discusses the persistence required in research, navigating funding rejections, and translating epidemiologic findings back to bench models.

The discussion concludes with her insights on leadership in neonatology, from directing divisions and fellowships to now serving as chair, balancing research, clinical duties, and family life while advocating for sustainable staffing models in pediatrics.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

In this week’s Journal Club, Ben and Daphna review several recent neonatal studies with direct implications for practice.

They begin with the BORN trial from Italy, which investigated whether transfusing preterm infants with cord blood–derived red blood cells, rather than adult donor blood, could reduce severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). While the intention-to-treat analysis showed no difference, per-protocol findings suggest potential benefits that warrant larger trials.

Next, they review a large international cohort study of outcomes in infants born at 22–23 weeks, highlighting striking variability in survival and morbidity across networks, with Japan showing the highest survival rates.

The EBNeo segment features Dr. Gabriel Altit discussing an Indian randomized trial comparing norepinephrine vs. dopamine as first-line therapy for neonatal septic shock. Although primary outcomes were similar, norepinephrine showed some favorable metabolic and perfusion markers.

The hosts then cover a delivery room resuscitation study identifying expiratory tidal volumes of 4–5 ml/kg as key for successful lung aeration, a Canadian trial of atropine for neonatal intubation, and a retrospective study from Alabama on optimal timing and frequency of pulmonary hypertension screening in BPD.

The episode concludes with a case report on the use of continuous glucose monitoring in a neonate with congenital hyperinsulinism.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

Continuous glucose monitoring in a neonate with hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia and ABCC8 gene mutation. Iwańczyk P, Majewska A, Issat T, Hoffman-Zacharska D, Krajewski P, Lipska-Karpińska K.Endocrinol Diabetes Metab Case Rep. 2025 Jun 5;2025(2):e250002. doi: 10.1530/EDM-25-0002. Print 2025 Apr 1.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

Screening for pulmonary hypertension in preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia: when, how often and does it matter? Gentle SJ, Carlo WA, Ambalavanan N.Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2025 Sep 5:fetalneonatal-2024-328405. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2024-328405. Online ahead of print.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

Atropine Versus Placebo for Neonatal Nonemergent Intubation: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Afifi J, El-Naggar W, Hatfield T, Sandila N, Baier J, Narvey M.J Pediatr. 2025 Jul 9;286:114719. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2025.114719. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40645282

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!

Send us Fan Mail

Respiratory Targets Associated With Lung Aeration During Delivery Room Resuscitation of Preterm Neonates. Rub DM, Hsu JY, Weinberg DD, Felix M, Nadkarni VM, Te Pas AB, Kuypers KLAM, Davis PG, Ratcliffe SJ, Kirpalani HM, Foglia EE.JAMA Pediatr. 2025 Aug 11:e252521. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.2521. Online ahead of print.

Support the show

As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.

Enjoy!