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Premature Babies

            What do doctors mean when they refer to an infant as being premature? A premature infant is a baby "that has spent less than 37 weeks in the womb." With that being said any baby born three weeks or more before the actual due date is characterized as being premature (Discovery Health 1) Figure 2 is an example of premature baby asleep in its incubator while under the care of the NICU staff. This baby is considered to be of medium size. Most babies admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit range from this size to mucWhat is the NICU? The NICU stands for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This is a specialized place where infants are taken when they"re born too early. These individuals are provided with around the clock care by specialists on a daily basis. Infants born early are not as developed as a normal full term infant is, therefore, certain procedures are handled differently. "The environment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit varies from unit to unit." Most units consist of "intense monitoring and care, special monitors and alarms, and occasionally bright fluorescent blue lights are used (Engle 4).".
             Gavage Feeding.
             Full term infants are usually able to eat using a bottle or by being breast-fed. For preemies this is not likely to happen, at least not right away. There are two different possible feeding types used in this unit. The first method is called Gavage Feeding, which is being fed through a narrow tube that runs from the mouth to the stomach (Zaichkin 146). The fluid in the tube consists of breast milk or fluid.
             Intravenous Feeding.
             The second method of feeding is Intravenous Feeding. This is more widely heard of. An intravenous feeding is being fed through an IV. It typically consists of sugar water. Within a few days or based upon the baby's progression, physicians will add sodium and potassium into the IV (Zaichkin 145).
             Surfactant.
             Those born premature usually are missing a large amount of surfactant.


Essays Related to Premature Babies

1. Problems associated with new born babies

... as: a. Difficulty feeding - many are unable to coordinate suck and swallow before 35 weeks gestation b. Poor digestion c. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) - a serious disease of the intestine common in premature babies. 5. Neurologic problems such as: a. Intraventricular hemorrhage - bleeding in the brain. b. Periventricular leukomalacia - softening of tissues of the brain around the ventricles (the spaces in the brain containing cerebrospinal ... giving the mother a steroid medication at least 48 hours prior to delivery greatly reduces the incidence and severity of respiratory diseases a...

  • Word Count: 2862
  • Approx Pages: 11
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2. Premature Births

... reported that hormone treatments can subtract the number of women at risk for premature births. Just because a baby is born premature does not mean they will suffer long term learning problems. As a group premature babies have a lot of problems but realistically a lot of them actually turn out to be normal kids. Premature babies can live fully and as they grow strengthening their mental capacities. After following ... people's IQ scores stay the same throughout the course of their life, but some of these people's increased. Premature babies brains are smaller, sometimes eight years afte...

  • Word Count: 482
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3. Causes of Premature Birth

... all women who go into premature labor do so for no known reason. For some women do know the reason. Some premature babies thrive and live healthy lives. Some die. A newborn is classified at birth as premature if born less than 37 weeks. There are several causes of premature births, which include abuse ... , lack of prenatal care, chronic illness, stress, and using illegal drugs. One cause of premature birth is abuse ... . Since the fetus is a very soft, delicate tissue when the women is beaten it can cause her to go into premature labor. A second cause of premature birth is the lack of pr...

  • Word Count: 970
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Interaction And Communication Between Parents And Babies Through Touch

... by touch (Jane Sheppard. Healthy Child Online 2000). A healthy baby needs quality touch frequently to even have a chance at a happy future. What and how much is communicated to babies with touch? Evidence supports the theory that there are physiological changes in a person (such as respiratory patterns, skin temperature, perspiration, and pulse) as they experience different emotions. These changes ... Valenced emotions, (positive and negative emotions) are also believed to be communicated, elicited and modulated after touch (Hertenstein 2002). These positive and negative forms of touch a...

  • Word Count: 1367
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5. Multiple Births

... (6), septuplets (7), octuplets (8), nonuplets (9), decaplets (10), undecaplets (11), duodecaplets (12), tridecaplets(13), Quadecaplets (14), and quindecaplets. The highest number of surviving babies is octuplets (Rugh 22). One of the rare types of twins is a conjoined twin, also called Siamese twins. Siamese is a term made famous from Chang ... . Pressure on the cervix is stronger leading premature labor. When children are born early their birth weights are lower. The average birth weight of a child is about 7 pounds, 5 pounds for twins, and 3 pounds for triplets (Vaughan 127). Babies who...

  • Word Count: 2837
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Personal narrative

... Nic helped me move into my new house right before moving in himself. We were beginning to prepare our new home for the birth of our son when premature labor began, and I was hospitalized to stop the contractions. I was in the hospital for three days. At this point, I was only twenty weeks ... told me my amniotic fluid levels were too low. He needed to induce labor that night. Considering the fact that I had just experienced two months of premature labor and complete bed rest, inducing labor and getting results seemed to take forever. After almost three days of labor, my son was born on O...

  • Word Count: 2264
  • Approx Pages: 9
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7. Cerebral Palsy

... that affect control of movement and are grouped together under the term cerebral palsy. "Little suggested their condition resulted from a lack of oxygen during birth since they were mostly born premature or had difficult deliveries. This oxygen shortage damaged sensitive brain tissues controlling movement, he proposed(Kuban, 1994, p.188)."" But in 1897, the famous psychiatrist Sigmund Freud disagreed. "Noting ... present feet first, instead of head first, at the beginning of labor. Complicated labor and delivery. Low birthweight and premature birth. The risk of cerebral palsy is higher am...

  • Word Count: 3349
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8. Drugs And Birth Defects

... a few of these causes, along with their effects, will be addressed. FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) is one of the leading causes of retardation in babies. Alcohol is a teterogen, which is a substance that is toxic to the baby's developing brain. A baby's brain develops throughout the entire pregnancy, ... be seen throughout the life of a person with FAS or FAE (fetal alcohol effects) Some effects that are present at birth are; premature babies, which coincides with health problems due to underdeveloped organs and/or body parts; may have heart defects, small heads that may not look ... resu...

  • Word Count: 1209
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

9. First 1,000 Days Infant Nutrition Comprehensive Report

... walk, and talk, science helps us to understand them better and as such we are better able to facilitate their growth and development. By doing this babies reach their full potential in terms of health and they overall live healthier lives. Appropriate nutrition has a positive effect on the development of children. These ... lightly as the choices made, can and will affect their learning potential. Another thing to speak about is their immune development which is the most complex. Babies are born with an immature immune system. Nutrition is the first step to ensure a mature immune system...

  • Word Count: 1559
  • Approx Pages: 6
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  • Grade Level: High School

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