The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

There are more than 70% of premature babies that are born between 34 and 36 weeks gestation a year. When a baby is born early, or born with birth defects, the Neonatal Intensive Care unit is its first home. The nurse’s in the NICU have the difficult job of preparing baby’s and parents for a health life together. A baby who has been put into the NICU will stay there until it is healthy enough to go home.

Giving birth to a baby is the most amazing and miraculous experiences for parents and their loved ones. Every woman’s birth story is different and full of joy. Furthermore, the process from the moment a woman knows that she’s pregnant to being in the delivering room is very critical to both her and the newborn baby. Prenatal care is extremely important and it can impact greatly the quality of life of the baby. In this paper, the topic of giving birth will be discussed thoroughly by describing the stories of two mothers who gave birth in different decades and see how their prenatal cares are different from each other with correlation of the advancement of modern medicine between four decades.

For any mother the birth of a newborn child can be a challenging experience. As nurses it is part of our job to ensure their experience is positive. We can help do this by providing the information they will need to affective care for their newborn. This information includes topics such as, breastfeeding, jaundice, when to call your doctor and even how to put your baby to sleep. When the parents have an understanding of these topics before discharge it can largely reduce their natural anxiety accompanied with the transition to parenthood. Health teaching for new parents is seen as such an important aspect of care on post-partum floors it is actually a necessary component that needs to be covered before the hospital can discharge the

Now, there are more than 1,500 NICU’s in the United States. Personally, I think this job seems very intriguing. I like that I can be working with babies all the time and improve their lives. I would basically be getting paid for doing what I love. I also enjoy the fact that I would get to communicate with the families and keep them informed and updated. The whole idea is so interesting, I love talking to people and helping others, therefore, I would assume I would like this job. As of right now, I cannot think of anything I do not like about the job. I recently was given the number of a lady to contact so I can set up a job shadow with a NICU nurse, I cannot wait! After researching the career, I discovered the actual salary which seems good, however, I do not know much about salaries. Also, I learned what kind of schooling is involved which I did not know before, a master degree is absolutely necessary. My ideas about this career did not change from what I learned from this assignment. I am still very much interested in getting involved and maybe pursuing this career just as I had been

The sounds of a little cries, from new life being born, fills the tiny room. The doctor hands me the little newborn “Ready for your check up?’ i whisper to the infant or The feel of comfy chair against my skin, listening to a young girl talk about her family’s rough times. I wait patiently to give my input. The purpose of the project is to discover the possible choices after high school and learn about my options. I chose two careers for my research project : Mental health counselor and Neonatal nurse. These two careers interest me because i love taking care and helping people. I'm very compassionate and empathic. I feel these traits would really benefit for these two jobs. I hope to gain knowledge about what requirements to be in these careers

Group members are struggling with the many facets of having a NICU baby. This session will deal with some of the very common issues. Parents of NICU babies are often worried about how slowly their child may be progressing in comparison to other babies. This session the group will work through some of those progressions and regressions and help the parents to cope with this. Parents are sitting in the NICU for hours, watching other babies do things that their baby is not doing. However, this session will help show the parents that they are all doing this. Every parent in the group has likely been the parent on either end of that frustration/joy. Regression can be hard for parents and does happen often during a NICU stay. Group members may show some reluctant to talk about their child’s set-backs. They may be discouraged by them. Parents have a strong desire to know when their child will be discharged from the hospital. This can cause them to become upset when that does not happen (Pepler et. Al, 2012).

A neonatologist is a specialty doctor who cares for premature babies and full term infants who were born with major complications, such as

Thank you, Maria, for your post! I am a nurse, and I did my clinical in a NICU. I saw first hand what happened to babies born from drug and alcohol abuse mother. Drinking alcohol while pregnant is bad, but I agree with your judgment. Psychiatric medications are considered to have a detrimental effect on the fetus, but when we have pregnant psychotic patients that are violent (I work in psychiatry), we medicate them with a lower dose of medications despite of the damage that it can cause to the baby. We medicate them knowing the risk because it will cause more harm if we live them without medications. This author would never agree with pregnant women drinking alcohol not even in moderation, but I do see your point. If the mother drinks a glass

North America’s childbirth conditions and practice have been revolutionized throughout time. Today, many aspects of childbirth are carefully inspected to create, in their opinion, the healthiest environment for the women and child. The vast majority of Americans birthing environment takes place at a “hospital, birthing-centers, and homes,” while “planned home births” are fewer then 1% of birth (347). When having a planned at home birth, a birthing center will bring all the required equipment to your

A neonatologist is the person who takes care of the critically ill infants, premature or full-term, who may need surgery, might have a breathing disorder, or may have infections (Brown, 2002). The neonatologists also work in the ICN (Intensive Care Nursery). “The ICN is a major

The population of world is growing each and every year. With more people the more food needs to be made and the greater the strain on healthcare and many other things. However, there is still much room to grow throughout the world. China is an nation with a very large population and has an extremely high birth rate, in fact it is over 17 million live births a year. However, with such a large number of births there is also the problem of of the infant death rate (Matandrea, 2009). The death rate is 29.2 per 1000 births (Matandrea, 2009). That is very high. Over twenty percent of deaths are caused by asphyxia, or lack of oxygen to the body. Through recent efforts, a company called the Freedom of Breath helped

Adams, Ellise D.Stark, Mary Ann Low, Lisa Kane (2015). A Nurse’s Guide to Supporting Physiologic Birth Nursing for Women’s health, Volume 20, Issue 1. Retrieved from http://awhonnjournals.org November 06 2017.

Preterm Birth is one of the most important and interesting topics to any prospective parent. One of the reasons is because it happens so often and unexpectedly. Preterm Birth has become a personal interest in research simply because it has made a tremendous impact in my life. Having a Preterm Birth has taught me lots of things, such as, to grow as a person and as a mother, to see things from a different perspective, to get up, continue with my life, and perhaps to learn how to say “good bye” to a little one without even saying “hello.” For all the reasons above, there are some questions I would like to address: Why do preterm births happen and how can it be prevented? What kind of help is offered to parents and family members who go through the process of having a preterm birth? How effective and relevant is that help?

I will never forget the moment my labor began, the moment that marked that step in my journey into motherhood. I can remember everything about it so clearly. My mom, fiancé, and I woke up early Friday morning to make our way to Western Missouri Medical Center. I stood in front of the mirror looking at my belly knowing it would be my last time standing in that bathroom with my baby inside of me still. It was a bittersweet moment that I cherished as long as I possibly could. I was set to be induced that morning and very excited, yet a little bit nervous. I had no idea what to expect. I’d been waiting a very long 37 weeks to finally meet this precious human that had been growing inside me. I had ideas of what he might look like, and what the experience might be like, however nothing could have prepared me for what was in store over the next few days.

Prenatal care is widely accepted as an important element in improving pregnancy outcome. (Gorrie, McKinney, Murray, 1998). Prenatal care is defined as care of a pregnant woman during the time in the maternity cycle that begins with conception and ends with the onset of labor. A medical, surgical, gynecologic, obstretic, social and family history is taken (Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary, 1998). It is important for a pregnant woman as well as our society to know that everything that you do has an effect on your baby. Because so many women opt not to receive the benefits of prenatal care, our society sees the ramification, which include a variety of complications primarily