Premature babies and their families face extraordinary challenges. Let us understand some frequent complications presented by preterm babies.
Parents spend their entire pregnancy excitedly preparing for a full-term baby. A preterm birth intimidates most parents. They have no clue about the development, complications, or the nutritional needs of a premature baby.
We have compiled information on premature babies complications and development needs to guide parents through these vital months.
A normal pregnancy lasts for 40 weeks. Babies born before the 37th week are premature babies – also called preemies. This is further categorized into
Since preemies haven’t had as long to complete their development inside the womb, they look different from a typical newborn. The signs that a baby’s gestation has been cut short include
Doctors don’t always know the cause of a premature. Some risk factors delivering a premature baby include:
Premature babies are at risk of complications and health problems immediately after their birth, and also often in the long term. This is because their organs didn’t have as much time to develop in the womb.
Short Term Complications
Loss of body heat
Babies who are born prematurely cannot regulate their body heat due to the lack of body fat and an underdeveloped thermoregulation system. If their temperature gets too low, they can have breathing problems and low blood sugar.
Pro Hera Tip: Skin-to-skin care can help your preterm baby’s nervous system regulation, brain development, and pain management..- HERA
Breathing problems
By approximately 30 to 32 weeks of gestation, the lungs make surfactant, a soap-like substance that helps keep the air sacs open. Infants born before earlier than 30 weeks lack alveoli, causing them to have respiratory problems such as-
Apnea – brief episodes of not breathing.
Respiratory distress syndrome – rapid breathing, grunting, poor color, and crackling or diminished breath sounds breathing. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia- resulting from inflammation, injury, and scarring of the airways and the alveoli.
Digestive problems
Skin problems
The skin of babies born extremely premature is gelatinous, is easily injured when touched, allows tremendous loss of fluids, and does not provide an adequate barrier to infection. The frequent procedures and intravenous lines can lead to multiple scars in preterm infants.
Infections because of a weak immune system
Preterm infants have an immature immune system. Therefore, they cannot fight off the bacteria and viruses. It is the leading cause of pneumonia, sepsis, meningitis, and urinary tract infections in premature babies.
Cardiovascularproblems
Pretermbabies can experience a variety of cardiovascular disorders. The ductus arteriosus usually closes after birth. However, in preterm infants, the duct may not close properly. This cancause patent (open) ductus arteriosus, which can lead to heart failure and reduced blood flow to vital body organs (e.g., the kidney and the GI tract).
Premature babies may have hypotension or low blood pressure.
Blood problems
Anemia of prematurity is where your baby’s body does not make enough red blood cells. This can keep your baby from gaining weight and being active.
Jaundice
Late preterm babies have an increased amount of a protein called bilirubin as their liver has not developed enough to get rid of bilirubin in the bloodstream. This gives a yellowish tinge to their skin called Jaundice.
Brain problems
A premature baby may also have Intraventricular hemorrhage. This condition causes the newborn to bleed into the fluid-filled areas (ventricles) inside the brain.
Long Term
Vision problems.
Premature babies can develop retinopathy of prematurity. In this condition, blood vessels in the back of the eye are not developed and become swollen. [6] This can cause gradual retina scarring and in rare cases,retinal detachment. It increases the risk of vision loss or blindness.
Hearing problems
Preemie babies are at increased risk for hearing loss, which increases the risk of deafness.[7]If the hearing impairment is not detected and treating during within the first 2 years of life, which is a critical period of language acquisition, it can impair language development.
Dental problems
Premature babies are at risk for dental problems such as delayed tooth eruption, enamel hypoplasia, tooth discoloration, palatal groove, and may need braces.
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders affects movement and muscle tone. Babies born before the 37th week of pregnancy, especially if they were born before the 32nd week of pregnancy, are at a greater risk for Cerebral Palsy.
Learning and behavior problems.
Premature babies are slow in achieving developmental milestones. They may have learning impairment, learning disabilities and behavior issues later on. They are also at a greater risk of developing Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
A premature baby’s development follows the same sequence as it would in your womb. Your premature baby’s development will continue if your baby is born early. This is because genes are programmed to make growth happen.
However, if your baby is born prematurely, it can cause some delays in the development of motor skills because of treatments when they are small, such as being on a ventilator. A key aspect when assessing your premature baby development is to measure their milestones from their due date, and not their birth date.
By the age of two, most premature babies, even out with their peers in terms of development. From this age can use their actual birth date to mark development.
Breast milk is the best nutrition for your premature baby. It provides antibodies and other substances that enhance the immune response and help fight infections.
Some premature babies may initially require fluids to be given intravenously or through a feeding tube. But once the baby can breastfeed, they should be fed directly or through a breast pump.
The bottom line,
Having a premature baby can be intimidating for the parent. Understanding the needs of the baby and preparing for short term and long-term complications can be a challenge. However, identification of risk factors preterm babies combined with improved care and improvements in medical treatments have improved the outcomes and quality of life for premature babies.
Prenatal vitamins containing folic acid and vitamin 12 can significantly reduce premature births and the chances of having a smaller-than-normal baby.
Hera’s prenatal vitamins provide essential nutrients that help you bridge any gaps in nutrition for a healthy baby.