Pregnancy tips Premature Babies May Be Harmed By Bright Hospital Lights

Most babies born in maternity wards nowadays "room in" with their moms. I know when I had my daughter, she was with me almost from the moment she was born until I went home from the hospital (except for testing, etc.) However, premature babies must usually stay where they are monitored 24 hours a day. The article below discusses how the bright hospital lights may not be such a good thing for a baby that already has so many challenges:

Bright Lights Causing Problems For Premature Babies? (aphroditewomenshealth.com)

From the article:

A study in the journal Pediatric Research suggests that bright lights might play havoc with the internal body clocks of premature babies. Douglas McMahon, a researcher from Vanderbilt University, said that exposing baby mice to constant light keeps the master biological clock in their brains from developing properly and this can have a lasting effect on their behavior. While his study only worked with mice, McMahon believes the results might be applicable to premature babies being cared for in bright neonatal wards.

About 14 million premature babies are born worldwide every year, and in developed nations, this means exposure to bright hospital lighting, usually around the clock. "We are interested in the effects of light on biological clocks because they regulate our physiology extensively, and also have an important effect on our mood," McMahon said. "This study suggests that cycling the lights in neonatal intensive care units may be better than constant lighting for premature babies' from the perspective of developing their internal clocks."