Abstract
The term “neonatology” was not coined until 1960 when Alexander Schaeffer, in one of the first American texts on the subject, used it to denote that part of pediatrics with special concern for the “art and science of the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the newborn infant.”1 Neonatal intensive care and neonatology are closely related although not completely synonymous areas of expertise. The subspeciality of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine was formally recognized as a sub-board of the American Board of Pediatrics with its first examination and diplomates only five years ago in 1975.2 Last fall was the third year this examination was given.
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References
Pierre Budin in Paris in the late 19th century was one of the earliest physicians with an interest in the problems of the premature. He is credited with the development of tube feeding, the incubator, and the report of marked improvement in survival of low-birth-weight infants when “normal” body temperatures were maintained. Budin’s pupil Martin Couney brought this technology to the United States in 1898 when (perhaps ironically for current specialists) premature infants and their incubators were “exhibited” at a large number of expositions including the New York World’s Fair in 1939, and became a permanent concession at the Park in Coney Island. Although this showmanship aura of the beginning of American neonatology seems incongruous by modern standards, Couney provided advanced care for his era and laid a foundation for later specialists in this field. Julian Hess, acquainted with and influenced by Couney, opened the first premature center in the United States in Chicago in 1922. Clement Smith, one of the founders of modern neonatology published the first edition of a major scientific text in the field, The Physiology of the Newborn Infant in 1945. Schaeffer’s clinical text followed in 1960.
The American Academy of Pediatrics did not address the issue of Neonatal Intensive Care in its Standards and Recommendations for Hospital Care of Newborn Infants until its fifth edition in 1971.
Swyer, P. R., in Neonatology, Avery, G. B., ed, Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1975, p. 15.
Tooley, W. H., and R. H. Phibbs, in Ethics of Newborn Intensive Care, Jonsen, A. R., and M. J. Garland, eds., Institute of Governmental Studies, Washington, DC, 1976, p. 11.
Stahlman, M. T., in Problems of Neonatal Intensive Care Units, Reports of the 59th Conference on Pediatric Research, Lucey, J. F., ed., Columbus, Ross Laboratories, 1966, p. 17.
Teberg, A., J. E. Hodgman, P. K. Y. Wu, and R. L. Spears, “Recent Improvement in Outcome for the Small Premature Infant. Follow-Up of Infants with a Birth Weight of Less Than 1,500 Grams,” Clin. Pediatrics 16 (4) 307–313 (Apr. 1977).
Pape, K. E., R. J. Buncic, S. Ashby, and P. M. Fitzhardinge, “The Status at Two Years of Low-Birth Weight Infants Born in 1974 with Birth Weights of Less Than 1,001 gm,”J. Pediatrics 92(2) 253–260 (Feb. 1978).
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Edwards, M. (1981). Neonatology. In: Holmes, H.B., Hoskins, B.B., Gross, M. (eds) The Custom-Made Child?. Contemporary Issues in Biomedicine, Ethics, and Society. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-6007-3_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-6007-3_17
Publisher Name: Humana Press
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