During a severe blizzard, a 25 year-old Caucasian woman named Linda arrives at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA after being in labor for over thirty hours at home. Being only 28 weeks pregnant, she was hoping that her contractions would be able to be stopped. Unfortunately the delivery was not able to be interrupted and she delivered a premature baby boy named David at 28 weeks gestation; weighing only 1400 grams. Due to the difficult labor, and baby David being a Frank breech, David was delivered via caesarian section. Upon delivery, David was assessed and was not making any breathing efforts, had no movement of his limbs, a cyanotic appearance, and was covered with meconium-stained amniotic fluid. Tactile stimulation was applied, but baby David still did not show any breathing efforts and had a heart rate of only seventy-five beats per minute. The APGAR score for his heart rate was a one and for respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex/irritability, and color, it was a zero (APGAR). David had a score of one out of a possible ten points. Baby David needed to be resuscitated while still in the delivery room.
Premature infants, those under thirty-seven weeks gestation, are the largest proportion of neonates that will require some degree of resuscitation. Being less than thirty-two weeks gestation and weighing less than 1,500 grams only increases the chances that resuscitation will be necessary (Wiswell 289). Baby David has many factors that are not in his favor. Being born via caesarian delivery, through meconium-stained amniotic fluid, having a heart rate of less than one-hundred beats-per-minute, poor muscle tone, and no respiratory effort required intubation and suctioning. This, as well as c...
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Firdaus, Uzma, , S. Manazir Ali, and Sandeep Sachdeva. "Maternal And Neonatal Factors Associated With Meconium Stained Amniotic Fluid." Current Pediatric Research 17.1 (2013): 37-40. CINAHL Complete. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.
"Meconium Aspiration Syndrome: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
Venes, Donald, ed. Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. 21st ed. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis, 2009. Print.
Walsh, Brian K., Michael P. Czervinske, and Robert M. DiBlasi. "Meconium Aspiration Syndrome." Perinatal and Pediatric Respiratory Care. 3rd ed. St. Louis, MO: Saunders/Elsevier, 2010. 470-72. Print.
Wiswell, Thomas E. "Neonatal Resuscitation." Respiratory Care 48.3 (2003): 288-95. Print.
Laurie was born on July 11, 1989 at Henrico Doctors Richmond, VA. Weighing 3lbs and 5ozs and 15 inches in length. At birth the nurses do an APGAR score that scores from 0 to 10 and most healthy babies score from 7 to 10. This APGAR is to measure the appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration (Feldman, 2014). After birth Laurie scored a 5 all together on the APGAR score by this the doctors took Laurie away to be placed on oxygen to help her to breathe. With preterm babies they are developmentally immature due to lungs do not have enough surfactant to allow proper oxygen to pass through the body, not enough subcutaneous fat to keep warm and so on (Christensen & Kockrow, 2011). She was placed in
Sudden infant death syndrome ( SIDS) is the greatest cause of infant deaths ranging from ages one month to one year. Most of these deaths occur before the age of six months. Normally, any unexplainable infant death is considered to be due to SIDS. Numerous attempts have been made to discover the exact cause of this syndrome. However,the only known pathology is that SIDS is due to a dysfunction or abnormality in the cardiac and/or respiratory systems. To this point, an exact and definite cause has not been named. This paper will attempt to present several of the proposed and hypothesized causes of SIDS.
Mphahlele, R. R. (2007). Caring for premature babies - a clinical guide for nurses. Professional Nursing Today, 11(1), 40-46.
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).
Many questions about the causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also known as “crib death,” are still unresolved. The mysterious and elusive nature of SIDS creates problems, doubts, and more questions. This paper will present some of the most commonly asked questions as well as the answers that have been uncovered by scientists after years of research and study.
…The infant had been born with anencephaly, or lack of cranial development. The infant’s skull was an open sore that the nurses packed and layered with gauze to give his face a round appearance. Because of lack of cerebral hemispheres, the infant was incapable of any conscious activity. After his birth, the infant was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit and placed in a bassinet. He was reported to be kicking and breathing, and his ...
Bethanie is a 32yo, G2 P0100, who is currently 11 weeks 3 days as dated by LMP consistent with a 6-week scan. She is known to our office from her prior pregnancy early in 2016. She was followed in our office for diabetes and had had a normal anatomic survey. About one week later she presented with cramping for a couple of days and on arrival she was noted to be 1 cm dilated and 90% effaced. The bag of os was noted to be at the external os. Because of her cramping an amniocentesis was performed which was negative for overt infection and a rescue cerclage was placed. Unfortunately, about one week later her water broke and she ultimately delivered a nonviable fetus. She did have chorio on placental pathology by the time of delivery. She does report that despite this history of possible type 2 diabetes that she has not required any medication and she had an early 1-hr glucose this pregnancy that was negative. She also has some fairly significant social issues as she is currently in the middle of separating from her husband due to domestic violence. She is here today to discuss her history in her prior pregnancy as well as possible FTS.
She was a 24-week-old premature infant. I had never seen anything so fragile yet so resilient in my life. Every time she took a breath her lungs would completely collapse. To inhale, she had to pull everything up from on her back, out from her rib cage, and inflate her lungs. She was a powerhouse! Instinctively doing everything she could to stay alive. She died hours later. She was the youngest and smallest infant ever to be born alive at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.We will never know her full potential, and the loss of the opportunity for someone to become an asset to society is something that I cannot tolerate. Thus, my desire to become a neonatologist was affirmed.
There are more than 70% of premature babies that are born between 34 and 36 weeks gestation a year. When a baby is born early, or born with birth defects, the Neonatal Intensive Care unit is its first home. The nurse’s in the NICU have the difficult job of preparing baby’s and parents for a health life together. A baby who has been put into the NICU will stay there until it is healthy enough to go home.
Judy was found unconscious by her boyfriend, but the amount of downtime was unknown. It was reported that CPR had been performed by a bystander and when medics arrived the patient was in sinus tachycardia. The patient was transported to the emergency department with a history of alcohol abuse, depression, and a previous attempt of suicide. It was determined she was eleven week pregnant, and there was a fetal heart tone and fetal movement. Although there was no bleeding or mass of the head, the patient experienced decerebrate posturing and had an upward gaze. The patient was transferred to the medical intensive care unit with an endotracheal tube.
defects. They will remain in intensive care for weeks or months after their birth. Their
Malloy, Michael H. (2004). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome among Extremely Preterm Infants: United States 1997 – 1999. Journal of Perinatology, 24, 181-187.
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).
The child that I tested will be referred to as K.L. I tested her on April 14th 2016. K.L. is 2 years old, with her exact age being 2 years 9 months and 14 days. I called and asked her mother if she would mind dropping K.L. off with me for a few hours so I could perform the test, and then pick her back up after the test was complete. This test more accurate when the caregiver is not present. K.L. has a step sister and a baby brother on the way. She has always been in the daycare setting, because her grandmother is a provider. K.L. was delivered full term via planned cesarean section due to her mother’s small pelvis. There was no complications during this pregnancy. K.L. weighted 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 ½ inches long at birth, now weighting in at ...
Preterm birth is defined as ‘any neonate whose birth occurs before the thirty seventh week of gestation’1 and represents approximately eight percent of all pregnancies1-4. It is eminent that these preterm infants are at risk of physical and neurological delay, with prolonged hospitalisation and an increased risk of long-term morbidity evident in prior literature3, 5-13. Innovative healthcare over the past thirty years has reduced mortality significantly14, with the survival rate of preterm infants having increased from twenty five percent in 1980 to seventy three percent in 200715. Despite, this drop in mortality long-term morbidity continues to remain within these surviving infants sparking a cause for concern15, 16.