preview

Preventing The Pregnant Adolescent Prevent Her Baby From Being Born With Low Birth Weight

Good Essays

This paper will look at the various ways to help the pregnant adolescent prevent her baby from being born with low birth weight. The nurses ' role in teaching the adolescent mom-to-be, the different implications of safety, communication, education, challenges, interventions, and nursing care as they pertain to her pregnancy and the risks she and her baby face. The causes that put the adolescent at risk for these complications will also be reviewed. Lastly, patient education and methods of teaching by the nurse to the adolescent of these risk factors will be discussed.
What is low birth weight? Why is it an issue? What are the risk factors for babies born with low birth weight? According to Pillitteri (2014), “low birth weight is a baby born weight under 2500 grams” (p. 708). Babies that are considered to be LBW can be preterm or full term.
Ryan et al. (2011), reported that:
LBW can arise from two conditions: preterm birth (<37 weeks gestation) or intrauterine growth restriction. Fetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality are strongly related to LBW. During development, children who were born with a LBW may experience stunted growth, cognitive problems, and chronic diseases in later life. A multitude of determinants influence gestational age and growth of the fetus, which in turn cause LBW. These include socio-economic, behavioral, and physiological determinants such as nutrition, poverty, and gestational weight gain. (p. 588).
According to Chen et al. (2009),

Get Access