The Incubator's Journal Club

The Incubator
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The Incubator’s Journal Club is a weekly podcast dedicated to reviewing the latest evidence published in peer-reviewed journals in neonatology and perinatal medicine. Each episode breaks down important studies in newborn and perinatal care, with a clear focus on methodology, key findings, and real-world clinical impact. Designed for clinicians, nurses, and trainees, this series highlights research that meaningfully informs bedside practice and clinical decision-making. It is an efficient and reliable way to stay current with the most relevant and practice-changing evidence in neonatal care.

  1. Sep 17

    #466 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Does IVF Really Raise the Risk of VACTERL Birth Defects?

    Ben and Daphna  dig into a large, population-based study linking IVF conception to VACTERL association, a rare but serious pattern of congenital anomalies spanning the vertebral, anal, cardiac, tracheoesophageal, renal, and limb systems. Drawing on over 1.5 million births across four US states and linked SART registry data, the study finds IVF-conceived infants face significantly higher odds of VACTERL and related multiple anomaly syndromes compared to naturally conceived infants. Daphna and Ben unpack what this means for clinical suspicion at the bedside, why some VACTERL phenotypes may be easy to miss, and how better tracking of conception history through delivery could change how NICU teams approach anomaly workups in IVF-conceived infants. ---- In Vitro Fertilization and VACTERL Birth Defects. Tark JY, Richard MA, Schraw JM, Fisher SC, Betancourt D, Stone SL, Forestieri NE, Baker VL, Cameron K, Eisenberg ML, Belva F, Lu Y, Williams CL, Sutcliffe AG, Lupo PJ, Luke B.JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Aug 3;9(8):e2629355. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.29355.PMID: 42616500 Free PMC article. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. 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!

  2. Sep 16

    #466 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Should we start CPAP at 8 instead of 5 in the delivery room for very preterm infants?

    Ben and Daphna dig into a pilot RCT that asks a deceptively simple delivery-room question: should very preterm infants start on CPAP of 5 or CPAP of 8 cmH2O? The PHILODENDRON trial, out of Milan's Buzzi Children's Hospital, randomized 56 babies born between 26 and 29 weeks to find out — testing feasibility, safety, and early physiological adaptation before committing to a larger multicenter trial. No major safety signals emerged, but babies on lower CPAP reached surfactant thresholds faster, while higher CPAP trended toward fewer air leaks and shorter ventilation. Ben and Daphna weigh the physiology against the data, and ask whether trials like this even test the right question in the first place. ---- Initial CPAP of 5 versus 8 cmH2O during delivery room stabilisation of very preterm infants: the PHILODENDROOM pilot randomised trial. Cavigioli F, Bresesti I, Castoldi F, Gatto S, Lupo E, Rossi S, La Verde A, Bianchi S, Meneghin F, Viaroli F, Pivetti V, Manfredini V, Cannata G, Bastrenta P, Fontana P, Stucchi I, Daniele I, Chiera M, Lista G.Eur J Pediatr. 2026 Aug 17;185(9):673. doi: 10.1007/s00431-026-07322-6.PMID: 42608615 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. 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!

  3. Sep 15

    #466 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Oral isn't IM: Sweden's vitamin K data in two million infants

    Is the newborn vitamin K shot really being skipped more often these days, and does that actually matter clinically? This week on Journal Club, Ben and Daphna review a nationwide Swedish cohort study of over two million births, published in JAMA Pediatrics, examining trends in non-receipt of intramuscular vitamin K and its link to bleeding in infancy. Non-receipt nearly doubled between 2006 and 2021, and infants without intramuscular vitamin K had significantly higher odds of bleeding, including intracranial bleeding, than those who received it — oral vitamin K carried an even higher bleeding risk still. Ben and Daphna also discuss home birth data, families requesting oral alternatives, and how best to counsel parents navigating a vitamin K refusal in clinic today. ---- Vitamin K Prophylaxis in Newborns and Bleeding in Infancy. Simatou E, Tsamantioti E, Hallström A, Stephansson O, Razaz N, Persson M, Bolk J.JAMA Pediatr. 2026 Sep 1;180(9):995-1004. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2026.2606.PMID: 42440325 Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. 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!

  4. Sep 14

    #466 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Do We Still Need a DAT on Every Newborn at Risk of Hemolytic Disease?

    Do we really need a DAT on every baby born to a group O or Rh-negative mother? This week on Journal Club, Ben and Daphna dig into a new Pediatrics study questioning routine Direct Antiglobulin Testing (DAT) in low-risk neonates with ABO or RhD incompatibility. Using data from over 1,300 infants, the authors found that transcutaneous bilirubin alone predicted the need for phototherapy just as well as DAT in ABO-incompatible babies, and that passive anti-D from RhoGAM rarely caused significant hemolysis in RhD-incompatible infants. Ben and Daphna also discuss what this means for institutions running DAT on every newborn, how to tell passive anti-D apart from true alloimmunization, and why a more targeted approach to bilirubin screening may be overdue. ---- Utility of DAT in Low-Risk Neonates With ABO or RhD Incompatibility. Tsai TL, Ma T, Nester T.Pediatrics. 2026 Sep 1;158(3):e2026076989. doi: 10.1542/peds.2026-076989.PMID: 42642037 Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. 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!

  5. Sep 3

    #462 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Dexamethasone Eye Drops Prevent Treatment Requiring ROP?

    Steroids again? This time in the eye. Daphna brings the DROP-ROP trial from JAMA Pediatrics, a double-masked randomized study across fourteen Swedish centers asking whether topical dexamethasone can stop pre-threshold ROP from progressing to type one disease. One hundred infants, born under 30 weeks, dosed for up to twelve weeks, some still getting drops at home. Twenty percent needed laser or anti-VEGF in the dexamethasone arm versus thirty-eight percent on placebo, a relative risk reduction that did not reach significance. Ben and Daphna talk through the safety signals, the intraocular pressure question, and how fast our field adopts promising ROP data. ---- Dexamethasone Eye Drops to Prevent Treatment-Requiring Retinopathy of Prematurity: The DROPROP Randomized Clinical Trial. Hellström A, Petrishka-Lozenska M, Sjöbom U, Wallander J, Nilsson AK, Löfqvist C, Ley D, Gränse L, Öhnell HM, Hård AL, Jakobsson G, Sävman K, Domellöf M, Löfgren S, Larsson E, Smith LEH, Pivodic A, Lundgren P; DROPROP Collaboration Group.JAMA Pediatr. 2026 Aug 3:e263247. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2026.3247. Online ahead of print. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. 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!

  6. Sep 2

    #462 - [Journal Club] - 📌 Continuous vs Bolus Feeding, Which One Grows Babies Better?

    Every unit has a bolus camp and a continuous camp, and both are usually dug in. Ben brings a single center non-inferiority trial from India, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, randomizing 132 infants born before 29 weeks and under a thousand grams to extended infusion feeding or two hourly bolus feeds. Weight gain at discharge was essentially identical at 15.3 versus 15.7 grams per kilo per day, but the infusion group lost two fewer days to interrupted feeds. Ben and Daphna talk through the five on one off infusion cycle, two hourly bolus feeding, and why fewer interruptions may be the real outcome. ---- Effect of Extended Infusion Versus Intermittent Bolus Feedings on Hospital Weight Gain in Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants Born at 29 Weeks of Gestation: A Randomized Noninferiority Clinical Trial. Balasubramanian H, Sahoo M, Chhadva D, Choubey R, Sakharkar S, Pillai A, Kabra NS.J Pediatr. 2026 Jul 13;298:115235. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2026.115235. Online ahead of print. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. 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!

  7. Sep 1

    #462 - [Journal Club] - 📌 After HEAL Does a Second Trial Close the Book on EPO?

    We already had HEAL, so why run this trial at all? Daphna brings PAEAN from JAMA Pediatrics, a phase three trial across 24 units in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore that gave high dose erythropoietin to 313 late preterm and term infants already receiving therapeutic hypothermia for HIE. Same drug, same dosing, nearly the same eligibility criteria as HEAL, by design. Death or moderate to severe developmental deficit at two years was 34 percent with EPO versus 29 percent with placebo. Ben and Daphna talk through the thrombosis signal, why replication feels so foreign in neonatology, and what is left in the adjunct pipeline. ---- Erythropoietin for Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Liley HG, Hunt RW, O'Connell RL, Battin MR, Novak I, Wu YW, Ballard R, Askie L, Badawi N, Ghadge A, Jacobs SE, Juul SE, Sebastian L, Wagh D, Simes RJ; PAEAN Study Investigators.JAMA Pediatr. 2026 Jul 27:e263082. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2026.3082. Online ahead of print. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. 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!

  8. Aug 31

    #462 - [Journal Club] - 📌 After LISA Does CPAP Perform as Well as NIMV Below 30 Weeks?

    Most trials comparing CPAP and NIMV leave a lingering doubt about whether surfactant explained the difference. This one does not. Ben brings a multicenter noninferiority trial from JAMA Network Open in infants born between 24 and 29 weeks, randomized to nasal CPAP or NIMV with every baby receiving less invasive surfactant administration. The trial stopped early for futility after 312 infants. Noninvasive ventilation failure within 72 hours was 26 percent on CPAP versus 13 percent on NIMV. Ben and Daphna talk through what happens when surfactant is off the table, the unexpected NEC signal, and where the guidelines may need revisiting. ---- Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure vs Nasal Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilation in Preterm Infants With Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Zhang H, Zhang Y, Zeng L, Tong X, Piao M, He H, Zhao C, Xie H, Zheng Z, Cui Q, Lai Y, Wang H, Wang L, Liu H, Tian X, Wu H, Kang L, Han T.JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Jun 1;9(6):e2619785. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.19785. Support the show As always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: nicupodcast@gmail.com. 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!

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About

The Incubator’s Journal Club is a weekly podcast dedicated to reviewing the latest evidence published in peer-reviewed journals in neonatology and perinatal medicine. Each episode breaks down important studies in newborn and perinatal care, with a clear focus on methodology, key findings, and real-world clinical impact. Designed for clinicians, nurses, and trainees, this series highlights research that meaningfully informs bedside practice and clinical decision-making. It is an efficient and reliable way to stay current with the most relevant and practice-changing evidence in neonatal care.

Information

  • Channel
    The Incubator
  • Creator
    Ben Courchia MD & Daphna Yasova Barbeau MD
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    183
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Incubator's Journal Club
  • Show Website
    The Incubator's Journal Club
  • Provider
    Cato Neonatal Innovations

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