Реферат на тему UnH1d Essay Research Paper Premature Infancy
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Untitled Essay, Research Paper
Premature Infancy
Premature babies, otherwise known as preterm babies, or
preemies, are babies that
are born earlier than the full-term of thirty-eight to forty-two weeks of
pregnancy. These
babies are generally born between the twentieth and thirty-eighth week. Almost
250,000
babies, nearly seven percent of newborns, are premature(Golant 4). Prematurity,
even
with all the advances in technology, is still a major cause of fetal and
neonatal death.
Actually, around seventy-five percent of perinatal deaths are due to a number
of problems
associated with prematurity(Freeman 232). Premature babies are very weak
and
defenseless, and need to be hospitalized. One reason for this is that a baby
may become
startled into shock by a loud sound or even bright light. This occurs because
many babies
have fully-developed senses and underdeveloped organs, which may become a
problem,
since the brain may not be developed well enough to be able to distinguish
these different
senses, which causes the baby to panic and lose control of its actions.
The main underdeveloped parts of a premature baby are
its organs, chiefly the
lungs and the brain. The lungs are developed in the last few weeks of pregnancy,
and if
the child is born before the thirty sixth week, he/she may require some special
attention.
Usually, the child is monitored closely for the first few weeks of its life,
in order to make
sure there is no problems with the breathing or any other function of its
body. The
premature baby will probably need supplemental oxygen to help it through
the early
stages, but rarely will it need an actual respirator or other life-supporting
device on a full-
time twenty four hour basis. In fact, giving the baby too much oxygen may
complicate
problems, such as damages to the eyes. This is caused by a over-abundance
of oxygen in
the blood stream, which in turn causes the blood vessels of the eye to expand,
damaging
the eye. This problem is one of the main concerns when bearing a pre-term
baby versus a
full-term baby.
Another difference, probably the most noticeable one,
is the size and weight of the
baby. A preemie will look thin and helpless, and will also have transparent
skin. Blood
vessels, veins and bones are sometimes visible through the skin of these
babies. This is
because the skin of a premature baby is very fragile and tender and can be
bruised or
broken very easily by a slight amount of pressure. For this reason, many
preemies,
especially early preemies, are better off not wearing clothing or diapers.
Not wearing
clothing helps make it easier for the doctor to work with the baby and keep
the skin’s
stress levels to a minimum. Even though the parents may want to hold and
cuddle their
baby, it is best for the child and the parents if they keep to a minimum
the handling of a
preemie.
Doctors are trying to figure out ways to prevent premature
labor from occurring.
Through a drug called Ritodrive, doctors have been quite successful in prolonging
the
pregnancy until the thirty-sixth week(Griesemer 15). Although successful
in many cases,
doctors are still very skeptical on whether or not women should take any
form of drugs
while they are pregnant. In the past, there was a belief that the placenta
protects the
unborn baby from all drugs, bur just recently studies have shown that many
drugs can be
passed from the mother to the child. Another reason which drugs are not regularly
administered to upcoming mothers is that it is very difficult to determine
how drugs will
actually act on the fetus, since test results can vary so differently from
person to person,
and also because these results are very unpredictable. For this reason, women
are rarely
prescribed drugs while pregnant, unless when needed or under the care and
supervision of
their doctor.
Caring for a premature baby can be very tough for parents
at times. Since they are
urged not to handle the baby much, it makes it very hard for the baby to
receive much
attention, and also for the parent to see the baby as often as s/he wants
to. Feeding a
preemie may be a very difficult and cumbersome task. Some preterm babies
are fed
through an umbilical artery catheter, a tube placed through the navel, or
by an intravenous
placed through a vein in the baby’s head or scalp. This IV contains
a solution with the
nutrients the baby needs for survival. More mature preemies may be fed by
formula, or
even breast milk. Breast milk is preferred, if the baby has developed good
enough sucking
skills, another skill developed late in pregnancy, and also if the baby’s
body is functional
enough to tolerate the milk. Some advantages of breast milk over formula
are that breast
milk can improve growth, provide antibodies against infection, stimulate
faster nerve
growth, and help regulate heartbeat and breathing patterns through sucking,
making the
flow of oxygen more even and efficient.
Heart problems are another common problem among prematurely
born babies.
The most common problem is that blood might circulate through the body, but
without
passage through the lungs. This happens while the baby is in the fetus, and
continues until
about the thirty-sixth week when the lungs are almost fully functional. Recently,
a drug
has been developed that can be used as a substitute to the old method of
surgery that was
used to combat this problem in most cases.
The causes for premature birth is generally an underdeveloped
placenta. One thing
that is known to have an affect on this is cigarette smoke, which lowers
the oxygen supply
to the placenta. Drinking alcohol in large quantities and smoking marijuana
and doing
other drugs also increases the risk for having a premature baby. Having preterm
babies is
not an inherent trait, which is a common rumor, but some conditions which
premature
babies have later in life, such as diabetes, are inherent. Age is also a
factor which has no
effect on bearing a premature child. Although older women tend to be less
fertile and
have a greater chance of bearing a baby with genetic defects, such as having
Down’s
Syndrome, they do not have to worry any more about having a baby born pre-term
than a
twenty or twenty-five year old woman. Although this is true, a mother who
delivers one
preterm baby is more likely to deliver another during her next pregnancy
than a mother
who hasn’t had a problem with previous pregnancy. Another high risk
for premature
pregnancy is when twins, or other multiple babies, are born. This occurs
often because the
mother’s body cannot hold more than one child for the normal full-term
of thirty eight to
forty two weeks, and must get rid of the children from the uterus in order
to return the
body to normal and prevent any injuries from occurring inside the mother’s
womb.
Many advances are occurring everyday which enable mothers
to feel safer with the
care of premature babies. New drugs are being developed and new methods are
being
tested to ensure the security of a preemie, enabling the rate of deaths and
the rate of
premature babies born to both be lowered. As recently as 1986, premature
babies had a
much lower chance of survival, and with the help of experts, this factor
has been greatly
re