One of the most heartbreaking things about premature labor is that it is so difficult to stop. Once labor has begun, medications to halt it are often ineffective.

A research team at the UK's Newcastle University has begun researching what they hope will be a new way to stop premature labor. Their research is in its early stages, but preliminary studies show that the drug Trichostatin A, used to fight cancer, reduces uterine contractions.

No testing has been done to see if the drug can stop premature labor - the current study was done with uterine tissue in a laboratory - but these early results are certainly encouraging.

The H1N1 virus has hit my area of Virginia hard, and the moms and nurses in my NICU are really starting to worry about protecting our premature babies. The CDC's guide, Considerations Regarding Novel H1N1 Flu Virus in Obstetric Settings, explains that the full impact of the virus on newborn babies is unknown, but that newborns are thought to be at a high risk of serious illness. For critically ill NICU patients, the risk of any type of respiratory illness is a serious one. Parents and nurses of NICU babies can take the following steps to protect their patients:

• Stay home if you feel sick: If you have a fever, sore throat, cough, or body aches, don't come into the NICU.
• Get vaccinated: Whether you're a NICU nurse or the parent of a premature baby, get the H1N1 vaccine. Infants under age 6 months can't get the vaccine, so vaccinate yourself to protect your preemie. If you're the parent of a premature baby, have your other children vaccinated as well.
• Continue to pump breastmilk: The CDC has determined that H1N1 can't be passed through breastmilk, so feel free to continue to pump your milk and send it in to the NICU, even if you are taking antiviral medications to get well faster. As always, wash your hands before pumping.

Martin Schiavenato, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, was recently awarded the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar award for his research on measuring pain in premature babies. Schiavenato, a nurse educator at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, is working on developing a new tool that measures pain in premature babies. He is creating a tool that measures pain cues, such as increased heart rate and hand position, and sends data to a glowing orb that immediately lets doctors and nurses know when babies are in pain.

Because it can be very difficult to decide when babies are in severe pain, Schiavenato's tool would be very helpful in NICUs, including my own. We work hard to keep babies comfortable by swaddling them, offering pacifiers, and using sucrose, but it still feels like some babies are undertreated for pain. I would love to use Schiavenato's orb to help better serve the babies I care for.