Many people are aware of the concept of premature births, but most people do not know all of the details. It is common for people to be ignorant towards why they happen, if and how they can be prevented, possible surgeries the child could have to face, or even long-term health problems. The complications, unfortunately, do not end there. Depending on the severity, the parents and the child could have a long road ahead of them. The parents will have a constant job of monitoring their child’s health and development. I will be shedding light on all of the consequences of premature births and battles that both the parents and child will have to endure every day after the birth.
Why do premature births happen? No one is completely certain yet as to why they occur. Doctors can make educated guesses and conduct research on the subject, but they do not have exact answers. It could be as a result of many complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, lack of prenatal care, a short time between the birth of the mothers last child, and many others that will later be covered. Most of the time, premature births are not able to be prevented, but actions can always be taken to strengthen the chances of a healthier baby and mother. Women should always be aware of every outcome that can occur during the pregnancy so she can be well-prepared for any situation. Premature births are typically not anticipated and, without warning, happen. I want to touch on a few obstetric complications that can occur during the pregnancy and why they can lead to a premature birth. Twins have a twenty-five percent to fifty percent chance of being born before full term. (Pg34) The reason for this could be because of the mothers’ high blood pressure, but the main...
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...pt after birth. This is a place where many different people will be monitoring the baby and caring for it until it is allowed to go home. The babies will require constant monitoring from the professionals in the neonatal intensive care unit. All of these professionals will be working to make the babies strong enough to go home with their parents. Many different people such as a neonatal nurse practitioner, neonatal physician assistant, neonatologist, and many more will be watching over all of the sick or premature babies in the NICU.
The NICU could be a scary place for new mothers and fathers. When walking into the NICU, one will see babies connected to tubes, wires, and machines. This could be very overwhelming and scary. Machines will be constantly beeping and there will be alarms going off, these are normal things to hear while being in the NICU.
...lness will be taken care of. Level three neonatal nurse works in the neonatal intensive care unit admits all babies during the first 28 days of life they need more attention that babies from level 1 and 2. The babies in level 3 are mainly premature, sick, or too small for their age. They need high technology care, or surgery. The level 3 NICU may be the largest part of a hospital. They don’t require different training you just have to have a lot of experience. You will have addition duties because you have to be extremely careful and healthy. The babies will need more attention than other babies. It depends if you need it or not some people take it to be on the safe side.
Perinatal nurses and neonatal nurses both assist the doctor during the birth depending on the risk of the pregnancy and how they think the baby will do will determine what nurse is in the room with you. Both neonatal nurses and perinatal nurses deal with newborn babies. If your baby is high-risk for illness or if your baby is being born prematurely there will be a neonatal nurse with you in the delivery room. If your baby is healthy and being born on time you will have a perinatal nurse with you in the delivery room. In the nursery although they deal with babies with different health they do some things the same when they are taking care of them. Nurses in both the NICU and the well-baby nursery have to take care of babies right after delivery measuring vital signs and giving them vital nutrients. Both nurses must evaluate the condition of each patient exclusively and use the information the gather to create or adjust the patient’s treatment plan. Both jobs go through the same training until the neonatal nurse has to start training for the
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.
At Cook Children’s Hospital, NICU parents are not only seen as the parents of the infants, but they also incorporate them as part of the team. Parents are highly encouraged to spend as much time as they possibly can with their premature infants, to have physical contact with them by giving them kangaroo time, which allows parents to have skin-to-skin contact with their infant, as soon as the infant reaches the stage in which he or she is a suitable candidate to be in physical contact with their parents. Siblings who are over 3 are allowed to visit their siblings at the NICU at specific times of the day, and child life specialists help siblings understand what is going on with their baby brother or sister who is in the NICU. If they have any specific questions, the child life specialist is there to assist them. Families are referred to other institutions that will be able to help them if their facilities aren’t able to fulfill their needs. One of the institutions that...
Neonatal nursing is a field of nursing designed especially for both newborns and infants up to 28 days old. The term neonatal comes from neo, "new", and natal, "pertaining to birth or origin”. Neonatal nurses are a vital part of the neonatal care team. These are trained professionals who concentrate on ensuring that the newborn infants under their care are able to survive whatever potential life threatening event they encounter. They treat infants that are born with a variety of life threatening issues that include instances of prematurity, congenital birth defects, surgery related problems, cardiac malformations, severe burns, or acute infection. Neonatal care in hospitals was always done by the nursing staff but it did not officially become a specialized medical field until well into 1960s. This was due to the numerous advancements in both medical care training and related technology that allowed for the improved treatment and survival rate of premature babies. According to the March of Dimes, one of every thirteen babies born in the United States annually suffers from low birth weight. This is a leading cause in 65% of infant deaths. Therefore, nurses play a very important role in providing round the clock care for these infants, those born with birth defects or other life threatening illness. In addition, these nurses also tend to healthy babies while their mothers recover from the birthing process. Prior to the advent of this specialized nursing field at risk newborn infants were mostly cared for by obstetricians and midwives who had limited resources to help them survive (Meeks 3).
Certainly, every nurse carries their own duties and responsibilities. As well as neonatal nurse practitioner, in cooperation with other health care professional, are responsible for diagnosing and managing the care of new-borns with significant health problems. In addition, they also provide a safe, comfortable and therapeu...
When a parent has a baby staying in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, they are worried and stressed about the health of their baby. This worriedness and stress can lead to the parents developing Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder. A parent is more likely to develop Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder if they experience a fear of the unknown and fear of death, quality of life, medical interventions in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and stories from other parent’s experiences with the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. A study founded that with parents who have babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit experience suffering in social relationships, this includes marital relationships. The article suggest childbirth educators should prepare parents for the possibility of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder in prenatal classes and teach the symptoms of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder, so parents can recognize if they start to show the symptoms of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder that they can receive the help they need.
Neonatal nursing is a very challenging field which requires a lot of education before you can become certified. A person’s education has to be backed up by many certifications before even coming close to holding a baby. The expert has the job of supporting loved ones of the infant while they are feeling upset or overwhelmed. Also the expert has the responsibility of showing parents how to properly care for their infant.
I think the most important quality for a NICU nurse is thorough knowledge, or the drive to obtain more. I want to share knowledge with parents to make it easier for them to learn and know everything they can about their child’s medical condition. I can help translate between the parents and the doctor’s medical jargon to make parents feel more as ease and understand their
The next time I walked into a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was as a fourth year medical student. This time not as a spectator, but as a medical professional expec...
There are many different areas to consider when preparing for and having a newborn. Whether the pregnancy was planned or unplanned or the couple is married or not, a newborn baby brings new responsibilities. Having a baby also forces people to make adjustments both financially and within the family. Parents also express concerns and expectations when having a newborn comma especially when it is their first; including what roles each parent and family member should play, how much confidence they have in their parenting skills, and how much financial strain would be placed on the family once the newborn has arrived. The newest issue in today’s society is the fact that many women are delaying childbirth and having more children in their later years of life.
A neonatologist has many tasks and responsibilities before, during, and after the birth of an at-risk newborn. If there is reason to believe there are going to be complications with a birth that would cause negative side effects for the infant, a neonatologist will be brought in to help. In these high-risk situations, a team effort is required and the neonatologist takes the lead position. The neonatologist will be responsible for advising the parents on what to expect during and after labor. After the infant is born, the neonatologist has to find a method to properly care for the baby. Because most premature babies have a low birth-weight, their lungs need to be supported and they need to be kept warm. During this whole process, the neonatologist interacts with the parents to keep them updated on their baby’s condition (Weaver, 2009).
Over the years birthing methods have changed a great deal. When technology wasn’t so advanced there was only one method of giving birth, vaginally non-medicated. However, in today’s society there are now more than one method of giving birth. In fact, there are three methods: Non-medicated vaginal delivery, medicated vaginal delivery and cesarean delivery, also known as c-section. In the cesarean delivery there is not much to prepare for before the operation, except maybe the procedure of the operation. A few things that will be discussed are: the process of cesarean delivery, reasons for this birthing method and a few reasons for why this birthing method is used. Also a question that many women have is whether or not they can vaginally deliver after a cesarean delivery, as well as the risks and benefits if it. Delivering a child by a c-section also has a few advantages and disadvantages for both the mother and child; this will also be discussed in more depth a bit later.
This journal was useful for me because it gave me the background details on why women are opting for delayed motherhood by the age of 30 or 40. Accordingly, I was able to build up my points on how it will affect the health conditions of both baby and mother and also the risk of taking that challenge.
This week’s clinical experience has been unlike any other. I went onto the unit knowing that I needed to be more independent and found myself to be both scared and intimidated. However, having the patients I did made my first mother baby clinical an exciting experience. I was able to create connections between what I saw on the unit and the theory we learned in lectures. In addition, I was able to see tricks other nurses on the unit have when providing care, and where others went wrong. Being aware of this enabled me to see the areas of mother baby nursing I understood and areas I need to further research to become a better nurse.