Research Report On Preterm Infants Essay

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2016), preterm birth are the birth that happened before 37 ended weeks of pregnancy and is one of the number reason of newborn deaths and the second prominent cause of deaths in children below five. The preterm babies have chances of an amplified risk of illness, disability and death. In the first weeks, the complications of premature birth may include: breathing problems, heart problems, brain problems, temperature control problems, gastrointestinal problems, blood problems, metabolism problems, immune system problems. Long-term complications includes cerebral palsy, impaired cognitive skills, vision problem, hearing problems, dental problems, behavioral and psychological problems, chronic health issues.

The patient population is the preterm babies that are less than 37 weeks’ and weight

Premature newborns have an increased risk of complications because their bodies still have underdeveloped parts such as the lungs, digestive system, immune system, and skin. Thus, promoting oxygenation, nutrition, and fluid balance, maintaining thermal regulation, resuscitation and transferring the newborn to NICU unit will help the child to get better (Ricci el., 2017, pg. 887).

Neonatal HIE is a very distressing and traumatizing event for parents and families with high mortality rate and sever neurodevelopmental disability on down the road. The first and most important concern for parents is to know the severity of brain injury together with the prognosis for the long-term outcome.

In the last 20 years the hopes of survival for neonates have seen significant increase, almost all of the causes of perinatal mortality and morbidity have decreased. There is only one threat unmoved, still standing above the rest- Preterm birth. Prematurity or preterm birth is defined as the birth of any child between 20-37 weeks of gestation. Delivery prior to 20 weeks of gestation is considered a Natural abortion.1 The survival rate of low birth weight infants has significantly increased from 15-80% in the last 20 years. However, the incidence of prematurity has not seen any change, neither decrease nor increase. Currently the average incidence is 10-11%.1

After the 4 days they did find that it increased the cells viability thus protecting newborns from the risk of microcephaly.

Imagine awaiting one's little miracle, and having to experience the complications of a premature birth. “A staggering 15 million babies are born premature each year around the world” (Mayo Clinic Staff). Of that number, 1 million of

Preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW) are the leading causes of neonatal morbidity, mortality, and disabilities (Swamy, Ostbye, & Skjaerven, 2008; Wilson-Costello, Friedman, Minich, Fanaroff, & Hack, 2005). These poor birth outcomes are costly. In fact, in 2001 LBW and PTB hospital expenses in the United States were approximately $5.8 billion (Russell et al., 2007). Furthermore, they comprised 27% of pediatric stays and 47% of all infant hospitalization (Russell et al., 2007). When considering total cost, such as long-term expense of special education service and lost productivity, preterm birth is estimated to be $26.2 billion dollars (Behrman & Butler, 2007). In order to lessen the cost of poor birth outcomes, the U.S. healthcare system should begin to incorporate aspects of preventative care at the level of maternal health.

Therefore, randomization was used when assigning mothers to the various intervention groups, which can assist in preventing bias when conducting the study. Another strength was that their sample of mothers and infants that participated in the study displayed a variety of characteristics. For example, there was a diversity of races, ethnic, educational, marital, and socioeconomic backgrounds, which also assists in minimizing and/or eliminating biases amongst individuals. In addition, the study was conducted at multiple hospital sites, which also could have been a factor in gathering a diverse sample population. There were also specific criteria on the types of infants that were allowed to be enrolled as part of the study. For example, the infants could not be critically ill, they had to weigh at least one-thousand grams, and were able to be easily held outside of the incubator (,). This was a strength since, preterm infants with severe illnesses may require the infant to be confined in an incubator without being held; therefore, making KC and parent-infant bonding difficult to

From the time of preterm birth to the early years, the infant’s brain undergoes rapid changes which include growth in size and components accompanied by major structural changes as well. They are all highly sensitive to nutrition. Preterm infants required specialized nutritional care to encourage brain growth and development.

Recently friends of the family had a newborn who was having difficulties with blood sugar levels. Therefore, the baby was placed in the NICU. While walking through the NICU to see the baby, I glanced into rooms with babies that might have easily weighed less than 3 lbs. I then thought briefly about the differences between premature and full term infants: neurologically and health.

This study is a perfect use of prospective study design. The end result is survival of premature babies and this can only be determined by a longitudinal study through follow-up of the participants under study. As noted by the writers, application of a retrospective calculation of sample size shows that the cohort was large enough to detect a difference of 13% in the survival rates of the infants born at 23 weeks in the two periods (Field, Dorling, Manktelow & Draper,

Centers for disease control and prevention 2013 indicates that approximately 500 thousand premature infants are born each year (CDC, 2014). Premature births occur in 12% of births and the majority of these infants require admission to NICU (Hamilton, Martin, Osterman, & Curtin, 2014), with seven percent hospitalized for six or more days (Infant Morbidity, 2013). These statistics highlight the continual increase of 31 percent since the early 1980’s for premature births worldwide (Blencowe et al., 2012; Dusing, Van Drew, & Brown, 2012). While all newborns are vulnerable, premature infants are at increased risks for long term and complex health problems, and continue to be the number one cause of newborn death (Beck et al., 2010; Newnam & Parrott, 2013). Additionally, the Institute of Medicine estimates the cost of premature births result in over 26 billion per year (Behrman & Butler, 2006).

Pregnancy is a basic time of versatility whereby fetal improvement might be fundamentally affected by natural components, for example, maternal supplements and hormones, and in addition the acquired hereditary profile. There is a solid potential for these elements to apply an enduring effect on the posterity's development and wellbeing into adulthood.

Pregnancy is normally the best and the happiest stage of any woman, but it can also be uncertain because anything can go wrong if you do not know exactly what to do. In order to understand the reasons of why Preterm Birth occurs, it is important to know what it is and how risky it can be. Preterm Birth is also known as Premature labor which mainly begins after “20 weeks but before 37 completed week’s gestations. Approximately 12.9 million babies worldwide are born too early every year representing an incidence of PTB of 9.6%” (Berghella, pp. 2, 8). Baby Center Medical Advisory Board says that about 12 percent of babies