The revised and updated second edition covers practical approaches to caring for healthy and high-risk infants. Available for purchase at https://www.aap.org/neonatalogy-for-primary-care-2nd-edition-paperback/
Chapter 19: Neonatal Skin
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Published:January 2020
Julian Trevino, MD, FAAD, Elizabeth Usedom, MD, MS, Amy Y-Y. Chen, MD, FAAD, 2020. "Neonatal Skin", Neonatology for Primary Care, Deborah E. Campbell, MD, FAAP
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By the end of the third trimester of pregnancy, fetal skin structure and composition are similar to that of an adult. The skin contains a mature lipid bilayer, substantial subcutaneous fat, and differentiated epidermal layers. The primary functions of neonatal skin are mechanical protection, maintenance of thermoregulation, immunosurveillance, and prevention of insensible loss of body fluids. In the late stages of the third trimester, vernix caseosa covers the skin of the fetus. The vernix facilitates the development of the stratum corneum in full-term neonates. Both preterm and late-term neonates have lower levels of vernix, and neonates younger than 28 weeks’...
