“A very small news item? Not necessarily”

The Hillel Yaffe Medical Center’s Newborn and Neonatal Care Department hosted the conference of the Israel Neonatal Society at the end of May. The conference was dedicated to the care of the very small premature baby in the delivery room and in the first days of life, in memory of the late Dr. Shmuel Yurman, Director of the Newborn and Neonatal Care Department and founder of the Neonatal Care Department, who passed away following a serious illness in 2012.

150 professionals and specialists in the field of newborn and premature babies from hospitals all over Israel attended the conference, where papers related to care of the very small premature baby in its first days of life were presented. The guest of honor at the conference was Prof. Neil Norman Finer of University of California San Diego, USA, who has done extensive research on the subject of neonatal resuscitation and has carried out a number of groundbreaking studies in neonatology in recent years.

Dr. Michael Feldman, Director of Hillel Yaffe’s Newborn and Neonatal Care Department, stated that this is the first time the hospital has hosted the conference, and referred to the late Dr. Yurman as someone who dedicated himself to constantly adding innovations to the care of premature babies. Prof. Meir Oren, Director General of Hillel Yaffe joined in these greetings, and thanked the members of the Neonatal Society and Dr. Yurman’s family, who attended the conference, for their willingness to present a grant for outstanding work by an intern in neonatology, one of the fields in which there is a growing lack of skilled manpower.

During the conference, a wide range of lectures were given, among them Prof. Finer’s lecture in which he spoke on innovations in managing resuscitation in the birth of a very small premature baby. Prof. Finer also surveyed current research in the field of neonatology. Other presentations included a lecture by Prof. Rafi Carasso, who spoke about making decisions under pressure and Dr. Feldman, who presented a study conducted in the nursing unit in collaboration with the Imaging Institute and the Children’s Nephrology Clinic on the necessary medical monitoring of babies with prenatal urinary tract dilation. At the end of this lecture, the Neonatal Department of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center presented a paper which was awarded a grant for an intern on the subject of techniques of improving breast milk for small premature babies.

From the right: Dr. Michael Feldman, Ms. Edna Yurman and Prof. Neil Finer.
Photo: Zion Yehezkel

Later, current clinical studies conducted in the newborn and neonatal care departments at Israeli hospitals were presented. The Neonatal Care Department at the Bnai Zion Medical Center presented a paper on the subject of respiratory distress syndrome, Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center presented a paper on development of resistance to antibiotics in premature babies who develop septicemia, and Carmel Hospital presented a paper on identifying and monitoring breathing interruptions in a study carried out on laboratory mice. A joint research paper by Hillel Yaffe’s Newborn and Neonatal Care Department, the Imaging Institute and the Children’s Nephrology Clinic on the subject of monitoring of newborns with prenatal urinary tract dilation was also presented.

The event was summed up by Prof. Shaul Dolberg, the Chairman of the Israel Neonatal Society, with warm greetings to the new members of the Society’s committee and thanks to the outgoing committee. Prof. Dolberg also thanked Dr. Feldman and his department for initiating and organizing the conference, and emphasized the importance of the productive collaboration between the Newborn and Neonatal Care departments throughout the country.

To the Newborn and Neonatal Care Department>>