According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of every eight babies each year in the United States is born premature. This affects approximately 500,000 babies yearly. Premature babies are defined as babies born more than three weeks before the baby’s due date. Full term babies are born at approximately forty weeks, and premature babies are born at less than thirty-seven weeks. In the final months and weeks of pregnancy, important growth and development occur in the fetus. This is why premature babies are considered to be at-risk for a number of issues. The earlier that a baby is born, the baby’s risks drastically increase for developmental issues. The cause of premature birth is often unknown. Any pregnant woman could experience preterm labor. Some women are at a higher risk for experiencing preterm labor. One known risk factor is having a previous preterm birth. Carrying more than one baby, such as twins, triplets, or more, is a risk factor for premature birth. Problems with the uterus or cervix can cause a woman to have a premature birth. African-American women are approximately fifty percent more likely to have a premature baby compared to Caucasian women. Chronic health problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and blood clotting disorders are also risk factors for premature births. Certain infections, cigarette smoking, alcohol use, or illicit drug use during pregnancy can cause a woman to deliver a baby preterm. Women who are underweight and overweight before becoming pregnant are also at a risk for not carrying a baby full term (Siega, Adair, & Hoebl, 1996). Sometimes doctors need to deliver a baby before full term because of concerns for the mother’s health, as well as the baby’s health. ... ... middle of paper ... ...ur-risk-of-preterm-labor-and- birth.aspx March of Dimes (2009, August). Common conditions treated in the NICU. Retrieved from http://www.marchofdimes.com/baby/common-conditions-treated-in-the-nicu.aspx Natural Resources Defense Council (2005, March 25). Healthy milk, healthy baby. Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/benefits.asp Pineda, R. G., Tjoeng, T.H., Vavasseur, C., Kidokoro, H., Neil, J.J., & Inder, T. (2013). Patterns of altered neurobehavior in preterm infants within the neonatal intensive care unit. The Journal of Pediatrics, 162 (3), 470-476. Retrieved from Siega, R., Adair, L., & Hoebl, C. (1996). Maternal underweight status and inadequate rate of weight gain during the third trimester of pregnancy increases the risk of preterm delivery. The Journal of Nutrition, 126 (1),146-153. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8558295
The very low birth weight are newborns that weigh less than 3.3 pounds (1,500 grams). Unfortunately, newborns that are under 3.3 pounds (1,500 grams) do not often survive, and the ones that do have delayed motor skills and cognitive development. The numbers decrease further to extremely low birth weight of 2.2 pounds (1,000 grams), where chance of life is very small. Low birth weight babies 1,500 grams – 2,500 grams (3.3 -5.5 pounds) have a good chance they will survive with proper care. Newborns that are small-for-date are placed in incubators that are sealed beds where temperature and air quality is regulated. The beds isolate the infants from pathogens and the environment. The babies need sensory stimulation to grow, so a recorded tape is played of the mothers soothing voice. Visual stimulation from video, and tactile stimulation helps foster physical and cognitive development in the baby. At five months while the fetus is in the womb ithas sensory capabilities, and can hear the mother’s heart beating, food digestion, speaking, and others speaking to her! The incubator stimulates this environment. There is great success with proper attention and care to the low birth weight babies, and. Many of the low birth weight babies are effects of parents that live in poverty, unable to access adequate medical care, and they experience stress due to an unhealthy family life.
Shinno, H., Matsuoka, T., Yamamoto, O., Noma, Y., Hikasa, S., Takebayashi, M., & Horigughi, J. (2007).
According to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, “In the United States, nearly thirteen percent of babies are born preterm, and many of these babies also have a low birth weight.” The baby may be put into the NICU for varies reasons. However, the most common reason that a child is put into the NICU is because he or she is premature. Premature means the baby was born before the 36 weeks. It is never good for a baby to be born early, as this could mean that the baby is not fully developed. There are other factors as to why a child may need to be put into the NICU after birth. For instance, birth defects can be the cause of why a baby is put into the NICU. A baby may be born with an infection such as herpes or chlamydia which can damage the newborns immune system at such a young age. Low blood sugar or hypoglycemia can also cause an infant to be put into the NICU. Some maternal factors of why a baby may be put into the NICU is if the mother is “younger than 16 or older than 40.” If the parent may be an alcoholic or expose the baby to drugs, this can put the child into NICU care. If the parent has an STD or sexual transmitted disease, the baby is most likely going to have to be put into the intensive care unit. “Twins, triplets, and other multiples are often admitted into the NICU, as they tend to be born earlier and s...
One issue that is a big factor causing this is stress caused by racism. According to “Can Stress Cause Premature Labor?” By Cherly Bird, RN. Chronic stress is a stressful situation occurs and is not resolved, or reoccurs. The body is not able to cope with the stressful situation and does not return to normal. Studies show that moms with more stress are more likely to go into labor early, so we can say that stress increases a mom's risk of premature labor. When you are stressed the body can react in different ways, either with blood pressure or hormones. Some things that can help control the stress is counseling, talking about how you feel can help. Also, exercising, or complimentary therapies are a good way to help be more relaxed during a pregnancy.
Maternal & Child Health Journal, 8(3), 107-110. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=14089739&site=ehost-live.
The birth weight of an infant is an important issue, as it plays significant roles in infant/childhood mortality and also has important health implications in overall growth and development of individuals.1 Birth weight has been shown to be an index of intrauterine growth and a reliable predictor of child survival and mental development.23
Low birth weight is arisen due to preterm birth, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) or both. Therefore low birth weight infants can be considered as a heterogeneous group of infants. Premature infants are born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Those babies account for about 70% of low birth weight infants in the world. In other words, many low birth weight infants are premature. This is linked with mortality, morbidity, disability in infancy and has a greater risk of having chronic diseases in later life.
Low birth weight can be defined as baby born with weight less than 2500g. It is one of the adverse pregnancy results in the world, which is affected to the newborn survival, growth and development. There are categorizes in the low birth weight; very low birth weight which a birth weight is less than 1500g and extremely low birth weight which is a birth weight is less than 1000g. An estimated 18 million babies are born worldwide each year with low birth weight and 9.3 million of them in south Asia. Low birth weight percentage in Sri lanka is 16% and is high in the developing countries. At that time, the low birth weight (LBW) rate for industrialized countries are 5%-7%. In England and Wales, the incidence of low birth weight increased from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 6.7 percent in 1990, while that of very low birth weight increased from 0.78 in 1980 to 0.98 percent in 1990 (and 1.2 percent in 1996 - Masuy-Stroobant and Gourbin, 1995, p. 73; Petrou, 2003, referring to
Hull, K., Montgomery K. S., Vireday P., & Kendall-Tackett K. (2011 fall). Maternal Obesity From All Sides. The Journal of Perinatal Education, 20(4).
Years ago, premature birth almost always meant death for the baby. Today, however, we have the technology to nurture these infants’ development, and many of them survive to lead normal, healthy lives. Although, very premature infants (that is, those born before about the fifth month) are still not likely to survive, many born at five months and older will thrive. Some preterm babies, however, do have many obstacles to overcome. There are a variety of medical problems that affect some of them, they may have impaired mental or physical conditions, and they may be looked upon by others in their environment as slow, or they might be treated differently because they were premature. All of these factors, plus a few more that will be discussed, affect the development of preterm infants into their adolescent years, and sometimes beyond.
Causes and Consequences of Low Birth Weight Birth of a baby is the start of a new era of a generation. As the new born infants are the internodes of the future, in order to have a healthy and strong population they should be given the proper health status from the beginning of their life. From the birth an infant can cause a lot of health risks such as birth defects, severe organ damage or functional problems and even the death. Most of the above health risks occur due to the nutritional problems as well as the physical damages. With the reference of most out coming results in the world, as LBW contributes to 60% to 80% of all neonatal deaths, the Low birth weight (LBW) has become a common problem that occurs at the first step of infants’ life and moreover it has become a severe problem as the health risks due to the Low birth weight can be even seen at the adulthood of a person who is born with low birth weight.
Reddy, U. M., Zhang, J., Sun, L., Chen, Z., Raju, T. N., & Laughon, K. (2012). Neonatal mortality by attempted route of delivery in early preterm birth. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 207(2). doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2012.06.023
that, in turn, could adversely affect the weight of very young children” (child Trends). Works cited Alaimo, K., Olson, C. M., Frongillo, E. A., & Briefel, R. R. (2001). Food insufficiency, family income, and health in U.S. preschool and school-aged children. American Journal of Public Health, 91(5), 781-786. Bronte-Tinkew, J., Zaslow, M., Capps, R., & Horowitz, A. (2007).
Low birth weight initially give sad result as preterm birth in early delivering in before 37 weeks or stopped fetal growth. There mortality and morbidity rate can increase and also inhibited growth and cognitive development and chronic illness in different life stages. Number of factors affect to this condition. Intra-uterine growth decreasing it cause where fetal growth going to constrained. Most of vitamin and mineral defici...
• Having your babies delivered before you have reached a full-term pregnancy (preterm birth). A full-term pregnancy lasts for at least 37 weeks. Babies born before 37 weeks may have a higher risk for many health problems, such as breathing problems, feeding difficulties, cerebral palsy, and learning disabilities.