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Reduced-scattering coefficients of neonatal skin were deduced in the 450–750-nm range from integrating-sphere measurements of the total reflection and total transmission of 22 skin samples. The reduced-scattering coefficients increased linearly at each wavelength with gestational maturity. The distribution of diameters d and concentration ρA of the skin-sample collagen fibers were measured in histological sections of nine neonatal skin samples of varying gestational ages. An algorithm that calculates Mie scattering by cylinders was used to model the scattering by the collagen fibers in the skin. The fraction of the reduced-scattering coefficient μs′ that was attributable to Mie scattering by collagen fibers, as deduced from wavelength-dependent analysis, increased with gestational age and approached that found for adult skin. An assignment of 1.017 for n_rel, the refractive index of the collagen fibers relative to …