A lot of efforts are required in the field of neonatology as only little is known about the overall

The Bayley Scales of Infant Development was chosen as the course for developmental assessment. The study found that nutritional supplements have a possibility of preventing and lessening the damage of PAE in the early stages of pregnancy, known as the pre-recognition period. However, many problems with development were identified later, but were impossible to measure at six months old. This has shown that there might be a possibility to reduce the damage of alcohol on a fetus, it is best to refrain from drinking altogether.

The results showed that there are only about 13.6 out of 128 infants born small for gestational age. It showed that venlafaxine was commonly used after the first trimester in the second. That is where the risk went up for the small gestational for age occurred mostly. It was compared with the ones who did not use any antidepressants and showed a relative risk of about ninety-five percent risk. In the end, there was no

I want to become a nurse because as a baby I had many difficulties in coming to this world. From being eight months premature and breech, my mother had a hard time giving birth to me. She had to fly from the island of Kauai to Oahu to give birth to me and because I was eight months premature I almost didn't survive. I would not be here today if it weren't for the nurses at Kapiolani Medical Center who took care of me and nursed me into a healthy little baby. These nurses helped me fight for my life and when I was discharged, they gave me a little green doll that I still hold onto until this very day. For this reason, I have the desire to work hard and become the neonatal nurse that I always wanted to be. Being a neonatal nurse will give me the opportunity to

A young, pregnant woman is sitting anxiously at the hospital waiting to hear the results of her ultrasound. As she waits, she remembers the horrible car accident she had just been in less than two hours ago. After a short time, the doctor comes in and confirms the young woman’s fears, her soon to be twins had no heartbeat and were gone. Unfortunately, this scenario is all too familiar for me because I lost my soon to be twin nephews due to a car accident. Within a split second, my entire world was changed all because a young man did not want to stop at a red light. Although the loss of my nephews was devastating, it did inspire me to help any mother I could in hopes that, she too, would not have to go through the same pain and heartache. Because of my new-found drive, I have decided to become a neonatal nurse, which, is a nurse who works with new born babies in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Being a neonatal nurse

According to the World Health Organisation [WHO] (2014) pre-term babies are at increased risk of illness, disability and death. It also states that globally 15 million babies are born pre-term and the figures are rising. In England and Wales during 2012 7.3% of live births were pre-term under 37 weeks nearly 85% of all babies born prematurely will have a very low birth weight (Office for National Statistics, 2012). Pre-term birth is associated with respiratory complications and lung disease, long-tern neurological damage and problems with bowel function (Henderson & Macdonald, 2011). Neonatal services provide care to babies who are born prematurely or are ill and require specialist care. It is seen that sixty per cent of infant deaths occur in the neonatal period (DH,

There comes a time in any health care worker’s life where they have to make difficult decisions. Many physicians have to make tough calls when they try to do what is in the best interest for the patients, and sometimes there are points where the physicians have to ask for help from the patient’s family members and ask what the is in the best interest for the family. This example shows up in the case of Dr. Benitz, the chief neonatal physician at Stanford University which explains that some of the children that show up in his clinic have a very slim chance of surviving he then goes on to explain that one baby that was in the clinic on the day of this interview was born pre mature and “weighed only 13 ounces. This is where Dr. Benitz says he

Just a few years ago, I fully realized that I want to be a Neonatal doctor. When I was about three, I had this little doll that I would carry around. One day we were watching Life and Trauma in the E.R. and I threw my baby doll onto the floor and started to resuscitate her. Ever since then I knew that I wanted to be a doctor of some kind; I just wasn't sure what kind of doctor I wanted to be.

Fetal alcohol syndrome is caused when women during their pregnancy drink alcohol and cause developmental problems that can affect the fetus and infant for the rest of his or her life. Fetal alcohol syndrome can cause facial abnormalities, mental retardation, and a significant decrease in overall growth of the fetus.1 There are numerous studies about prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome, and its effects on physical, neurological, and socioemotional functions of children. Many studies highlight that the risk of fetal alcohol increases by the amount of alcohol a woman drinks during her pregnancy. Many studies also support the idea that the more alcohol that is consumed during pregnancy, the greater the severity of the associated abnormalities that are found in the child. Because there is no cure for fetal alcohol syndrome, researchers have tried to achieve successful prevention plans by studying several options that could be implemented. The work that has been done to try and help children who have fetal alcohol syndrome is extensive but allows for further research.2

“Metabolomic profiling of brain from infants who died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome reveals novel predictive biomarkers”

Symptoms present most frequently in the early neonatal period with the signs and symptoms of hyperammonaemia with a wide range of symptom severity 1, 3, 6. These symptoms include: poor feeding, vomiting without diarrhoea, neurological alteration such as hypotonia, abnormal movement of limbs, irritability, generalised seizures, afterward lethargy, and coma 1, 6. Late forms may present with acute attacks of hyperammonaemia in a previously healthy individual or with chronic neurological, gastrointestinal, and psychiatric clinical signs 1, 15. The symptoms could be chronic nausea, vomiting, ataxia, confusion, and irritability, and in acute cases could lead to coma. The laboratory findings show an increase in blood levels of ammonia and markedly elevated concentrations of glutamine and alanine

As woman age, they will find that pregnancy can be extra hard on the body, causing health issues such as high blood pressure, with some woman developing preeclampsia. Preeclampsia, a pregnancy-induced hypertension disorder which affects both mother and fetus poses the real possibility of impacting renal function along with the development of HELLP syndrome. When a woman develops this HELLP syndrome they are a risk of hemolysis; the breakdown of red blood cells, elevated liver enzymes, and low plate count putting her a greater risk of complications that cause death (Preeclampsia Foundation, pg1). The only known way to cure this disorder is to deliver the baby and placenta, even if the baby is premature because not only can this kill the mother, but it has repercussions for the fetus as well. When it comes to the fetus, preeclampsia causes an inadequate nutrition supply because of the insufficiency of the placenta to regulate how the fetus gets its nutrients, which can lead to growth retardation and further heath compilations later in life (Lapidus MD,

Also leads to increased hospitalization costs. A large number of asymptomatic neonates are screened for hypoglycemia due to well established relationship between prolonged hypoglycemia and neurological impairment (1). Approximately 10% of these asymptomatic

A lot of these problems seen in formula feed babies are due to the fact that the particular composition of the formula doesn’t suit their digestive system. Breast milk consists of the optimum proportions of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals and water. It is extremely digestible for a new-born baby because the milk is naturally refined to perfectly suit the baby’s digestive system. The milk also contains growth factors such as, epidermal growth factor (EGR) and insulin-like growth factor. The epidermal growth factor works by helping to prepare the lining of the gut to absorb the nutrients from the milk consumed. Insulin-like growth factor is believed to be one of the primary factors regulating early growth and development. Breast milk also contains essential fatty acids that are not present in most formula milk products. The two essential fatty acids present in breast milk are docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonis acid. Both of these play a vital role in optimal development of the central nervous system, intellectual and visual development in babies. Furthermore, one of the most prominent advantages associated with breast feeding over formula feeding babies is that, breast milk naturally changes composition to correspond to the stage of development of the infant. For example, colostrum is the name given to the first milk produced post-delivery. It has an abundance of white cells and antibodies, it also contains a

(16) a baby's birth-weight is dependent on sufficient nutrition throughout gestation, newer studies suggest under-nutrition causes compensatory growth, which preserves full growth of some tissues and sacrifice others. This leads to programming and altered gene expression affecting metabolism and physiological settings. The systems which have been observed to be affected by programming in adulthood include the immune system, neuro-endocrine settings and stem cell quality increasing risk of diabetes type 2, hypertension and heart disease.

The drugs that are used to treat neonates can be used multipurposely and often innovation drives creative uses of drugs to treat uncommon multifactorial complications (Allegaert & van den Anker, 2015). Knowledge of the drugs and their adverse effects is increasingly important when dosing a neonate. Due to their undeveloped body systems, in an event of an undesired reaction or drug error, the neonate would not be able to compensate and recover like the other patient groups may (Skene, Gupta, Flaherty, & Sherwood, 2012). Furthermore, this stresses the importance of being competent in drug calculations and being aware of the effect of medicines on this particularly vulnerable patient group (Stavroudis, Shore, Morlock, Hicks, Bundy, & Miller,