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The Incubator's Journal Club

The Incubator's Journal Club

Ben Courchia MD & Daphna Yasova Barbeau MD 155 episodes Latest May 28, 2026

The Incubator's Journal Club is a weekly podcast that reviews the latest evidence in neonatology and perinatal medicine from peer-reviewed journals. Each episode breaks down important studies, focusing on methodology, key findings, and clinical impact. Designed for clinicians, nurses, and trainees, it highlights research that informs bedside practice and decision-making. The podcast provides an efficient way to stay current with practice-changing evidence in neonatal care.

Episodes

#447 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Is a Five-Day Antibiotic Course Enough to Treat UTIs in the NICU? Jun 11, 2026 1294 Is five days of antibiotics enough to treat a urinary tract infection in a NICU infant? In this Journal Club episode, Ben and Daphna review a single-center study from Nationwide Children's Hospital examining adherence and safety of a five-day antibiotic treatment guideline for culture and urinalysis-proven UTIs in the NICU. Among 77 infants with 93 bacterial UTIs, the five-day course was asso
#447 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Does Extended CPAP Reduce Intermittent Hypoxemia in Stable Preterm Infants? Jun 10, 2026 1097 What happens to intermittent hypoxemia when you keep a stable preterm infant on CPAP for two extra weeks? In this Journal Club episode, Ben and Daphna review a secondary analysis from the Journal of Pediatrics by Mamidi and McEvoy. Among 95 infants randomized to either two additional weeks of bubble CPAP on room air or discontinued CPAP, those in the extended CPAP group experienced significantly f
#447 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Are we missing UTIs in neonates hospitalized for unexplained jaundice? Jun 9, 2026 916 In this Journal Club episode, Daphna reviews a retrospective cohort study from Istanbul examining clinical, laboratory, and ultrasound factors associated with UTI in neonates hospitalized for unexplained hyperbilirubinemia. Among 96 term and near-term infants, 31% had culture-proven UTIs, a striking prevalence. Pathological renal ultrasound findings were independently associated with UTI, with aff
#447 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Is phototherapy doing more harm than good in very preterm infants? Jun 8, 2026 1400 In this Journal Club episode, Ben and Daphna review a nationwide Swedish cohort study examining the association between phototherapy duration and neonatal outcomes in very preterm infants (22 to 31 weeks). The study’s primary outcome, late neonatal mortality on days 8 to 27, was not significantly associated with phototherapy duration. However, longer phototherapy exposure was associated with incre
#445 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Are we missing dysphagia in very preterm infants before they leave the NICU? May 29, 2026 1111 How often are we missing dysphagia in our most vulnerable NICU patients? In this episode of Journal Club, Daphna reviews a retrospective cohort study from the Journal of Perinatology examining the incidence and risk factors of dysphagia confirmed by flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) in very preterm and very low birth weight infants. Among infants showing persistent feeding diffic
#445 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Does an exclusive human milk diet improve growth in very low birth weight infants? May 29, 2026 1412 Japan has some of the best survival rates for extremely preterm infants in the world, yet feeding practices there look very different from what many of us are used to. In this episode of Journal Club, Ben reviews the JASMINE trial, a multicenter phase three randomized controlled trial evaluating an exclusive human milk diet compared to a standard cow milk-based diet in very low birth weight infant
#445 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Can a few drops of breast milk in a preterm infant's nose actually improve cerebral oxygenation? May 29, 2026 1334 Could putting a few drops of breast milk in a preterm infant's nose actually improve cerebral oxygenation? In this episode of Journal Club, Daphna reviews a randomized controlled trial from the European Journal of Pediatrics investigating the physiologic effects of intranasal expressed breast milk (EBM) administration in preterm infants. The study found that infants receiving 0.2 mL of fresh
#445 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Can symptom-based dosing cut hospitalization time for babies with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome? May 29, 2026 1452 One infant is diagnosed with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome every 27 minutes, and rates are rising. In this episode of Journal Club, Ben and Daphna review the Optimized NOW randomized clinical trial, a landmark multicenter study published in JAMA. The trial compared symptom-based dosing,Β  a single opioid dose given when a withdrawal threshold is met against the traditional scheduled opioid ta
#442 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Does combining EEG and MRI improve neurodevelopmental prognostication in preterm infants? May 14, 2026 754 In this episode of Journal Club, we wrap up a marathon recording session with a deep dive into the world of neonatal neuroprognostication. Daphna reviews a systematic review and meta-analysis from Pediatric Neurology that evaluates whether combining EEG and MRI provides better answers for families of preterm infants. While MRI remains a powerful tool for structural assessment, the data suggests th
#442 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Is a low Apgar score more concerning than a low umbilical pH in preemies? May 13, 2026 1247 Ben kicks things off with a major career update before we dive into a critical study from JAMA Network Open. We explore the predictive value of the five minute Apgar score when combined with umbilical artery pH in very preterm infants. While the Apgar score was originally designed for term babies, this analysis of the EPICE cohort reveals its enduring utility even in the smallest patients. We disc
#442 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Does 24 hour in house staffing decrease physician productivity metrics? May 12, 2026 1030 Is your NICU considering the shift to 24 hour in house attending coverage? In this episode of Journal Club, we explore a provocative brief communication from the Journal of Perinatology. Ben and Daphna discuss the impact of moving from home call to on site presence at UC Davis. While the change was intended to improve patient care, the data reveals a surprising 15 percent decrease in work RVUs. We
#442 - [Journal Club] - πŸ“Œ Does NIRS guided treatment improve clinical outcomes for extremely preterm infants? May 11, 2026 1282 In this episode of Journal Club, Ben and Daphna dive into the results of the NIRTURE trial, recently published in JAMA Network Open. Building on the lessons of SafeBoosC 3 , the NIRTURE investigators aimed to reduce the burden of cerebral hypoxia and hyperoxia in extremely preterm infants using a standardized NIRS guided treatment protocol. While the study showed a dramatic improvement in maintain

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