David Field, professor of neonatology at the University of Leicester, said the US findings did not give the green light for using nitric oxide treatment, but were useful pointers to further research.

BBC: NEWS | Health | Relaxant 'helps premature babies'

According to Dr. Deborah Campbell, director of the division of Neonatology at Children's Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx, the new system will give health staff an opportunity to reinforce the medical benefits of breast feeding.

WSJ: One Sure Formula for Controversy

The preferred way to treat drug-dependent babies at the Knoxville hospital is by giving them small doses of an opiate and gradually weaning them off, said Dr. John Buchheit, who heads the neonatology unit at East Tennessee Children's.

NPR: Tenn. Hospital Treats Drug-Dependent Babies

The babies' mother, who is recovering from her Caesarean section, has not been able to visit the babies in their incubators, but is "very excited" when hospital staffers bring her pictures, said Dr. Mandhir Gupta, director of neonatology for Kaiser Permanente's Bellflower Medical Center in Bellflower, California, where the octuplets were born.

CNN: Octuplets doing 'very well' one day after birth