Best evidence-based practices: a historic perspective.

Neonatologists, neonatal nurses, and others who care for critically ill newborns hope that the care they provide will improve the health and the neurodevelopmental outcome of these neonates. In this progressive era of neonatal medicine, we must pause to look backward even as we look forward, taking full advantage of the opportunity to reflect on our short history and to review several important events in neonatal medicine that have contributed in a meaningful way to the evolution of evidence-based neonatal care. Six interventions highlight why randomized controlled trials are necessary to understand the risks and benefits of our interventions with premature and critically ill infants. We hope this history of the evolving practice of evidence-based neonatal care will enable the reader to have a greater appreciation for the consideration of each and every intervention that we take on behalf of the infants in our care.