Group faults short stays for babies.Nearly a quarter of all full-term babies born in the United States are home from the hospital the day after they're born. Because infants are at increased risk of problems ranging from simple breast-feeding breast-feeding /breast-feed·ing/ (brest´fed?ing) nursing; the feeding of an infant at the mother's breast. troubles to life-threatening intestinal blockages, the American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics ("AAP") is an organization of pediatricians, physicians trained to deal with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. Its motto is: "Dedicated to the Health of All Children. last week issued a statement decrying "drive-thru deliveries." "That a short hospital stay can be accomplished doesn't mean that it's appropriate for every mother and infant," the statement read in part. In the October Pediatrics, the 49,000-member body also published a new checklist for hospitals to follow before babies go home. The list includes absence of jaundice jaundice (jôn`dĭs, jän`–), abnormal condition in which the body fluids and tissues, particularly the skin and eyes, take on a yellowish color as a result of an excess of bilirubin. , signs of coordinated feeding, and assurance that parents can recognize common infant problems--which should take at least 2 days to accomplish, the statement says. That same issue reports the failure of many early discharge babies to get proper testing for phenylketonuria phenylketonuria (fĕn'əlkēt'ən  r`ēə) (PKU), inherited metabolic disorder caused by the absence of a specific enzyme (phenylalanine hydroxylase). (PKU PKU: see phenylketonuria. ), a preventable cause of retardation.
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