Infants with myelomeningocele: visual recognition memory and sensorimotor abilities

Folic acid for prevention of neural tube defects: pediatric anticipatory guidance

The incidence of neural tube defects including myelomeningocele, which is one of the most common causes of infant and childhood disability, can be substantially reduced by folic acid supplementation to the diet of women before and during the early stages of pregnancy. All females of childbearing age should be taking folic acid supplements of 0.4 mg/day (400 micrograms/day) and consuming a diet rich in folate. Because many pregnancies are unplanned, supplementation should not await plans for pregnancy. Because pediatric nurse practitioners are in frequent contact with both adolescent patients and patients whose mothers are of childbearing age, and because pediatric nurse practitioners have an interest in preventing neural tube defects in future pediatric patients, they are in a good position to provide the necessary anticipatory guidance regarding the critical need for adequate folic acid intake by females of childbearing age. This article discusses and includes guidelines for providing this anticipatory guidance.

Temperament of the infant with myelomeningocele

This preliminary study examined the temperament of infants with myelomeningocele. Mothers of infants with myelomeningocele rated their infants as less active, more adaptable, and more approachable than mothers of matched control infants, and tended to rate their infants as more positive in mood. In addition, the older the mother, the more likely she was to see her infant as more approachable, more adaptable, less intense, less negative, and with a higher threshold for stimulation. Older mothers also tended to rate their infants as less active and more rhythmical. Mothers with more education rated their infants as more positive in mood and with a higher threshold to stimulation than mothers with less education.

The eyes have it: visual attention as an index of infant cognition

The purpose of this article is to provide the pediatric nurse practitioner with an introduction to the literature on the use of visual-attention measures to screen for cognitive deficits in the infant. These measures rely on an infant's preference for novelty, that is, the tendency to look at a new stimulus rather than a stimulus the infant has already seen. Individual differences in novelty preference among infants are related to later intelligence. Novelty preference measures may be particularly useful as an adjunct to developmental assessment of infants with motor impairment, because these infants may not have the motor skills to perform tasks of traditional sensorimotor-based assessments.