Premature Birth Essay

Premature birth can occur for various reasons and most often causes problems in the neonate ranging from underdevelopment to acquired illnesses in extra uterine life. Any birth between 20 weeks, 0 days of gestation and 36 weeks, 6 days of gestation is considered a pre-term birth, and births are categorized as very preterm, born less than 32 weeks, moderately preterm, born between 32 and 34 weeks, and late preterm, born 34 to 36 weeks (Lowdermilk, Perry, Cashion, & Alden, 2016). Premature neonates who are born significantly early and survive are more susceptible to developing problems such as respiratory distress, apnea, feeding difficulties, hyperbilirubinemia, and temperature instability (Lowdermilk et al., 2016). Additional complications associated with premature birth are bronchopulmonary dysplasia, intraventricular hemorrhage, and growth and development delays.

Assessment immediately after delivery helps the nurse determine important information regarding the health status of the premature newborn. According to the American Nurses Association and the National Association for Neonatal Nurses (2013), Standard one of neonatal nursing practice, Assessment, allows the registered nurse to

Nourishing the infant and protecting the mother’s milk supply is a main goal to achieve optimum health outcomes (Lowdermilk et al., 2016). Premature labor and birth predisposes the mother to inadequate milk supply, so a lactation consult is important to institute breastfeeding through skin to skin, which helps the initiation of milk supply in the mother’s breasts (Lowdermilk et al., 2016). A local community resource in the New Orleans area is the breast milk bank at Ochsner Baptist Medical Center. Mothers who are unable to produce milk or have delayed lactation can utilize this resource in order to provide breast milk for their baby born