Lilly Dubowitz obituary

Paediatrician, neurologist and author whose work revolutionised the assessment of newborn babies

In the early 1970s, a husband and wife team developed two novel clinical tests that revolutionised the way newborn infants are assessed in clinical and research practice around the world. One was for determining gestational age; the other for the systematic neurological examination of the newborn. The scientists were Victor and Lilly Dubowitz. Lilly, who has died aged 85, was a leading figure in the field of neonatology, and her pioneering work spanning more than 40 years is internationally recognised. The Dubowitz score and the Dubowitz neonatal examination have been used by generations of neonatologists and paediatric neurologists.

The assessment of gestational age in the newborn infant, developed with Victor and published in 1970, was immediately adopted worldwide as a way of distinguishing small babies who were mature but malnourished from those who were premature and of appropriate small size. It measured some neurological signs, such as the infant's ability to flex and extend its joints and limbs, and also some superficial signs, examining the skin, eyes, ears, genitals and other physical characteristics for signs of maturity. From these, after the examiner had matched the infant's responses with the options on an illustrative chart, came the Dubowitz score. The beauty of the test was that it was simple and easily recorded through clinical observation.

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