A premature baby is a baby born between 22 and 37 weeks of pregnancy. Preterm babies require special medical care and careful care from their parents, because prematurity carries many risks. How to take care of a premature baby in the hospital and then at home? How to feed and nurture it?

Premature babiesare babies whose maturation in the womb has been abruptly interrupted, they are very weak and completely unprepared for independent existence - many organs have not yet had sufficient development.Premature birthcarries many risks - this is why neonatal intensive care units (premature babies and neonatal pathology units) are equipped with specialized equipment necessary to save the he alth and life of children staying in the hospital. Some devices support the breathing process or monitor the body parameters, others are used to administer food and medicine, and maintain the correct body temperature of the newborn. A premature baby has too little body fat and too weak muscles to generate heat on its own. That's why he is in the incubator. Usually, incubator sensors are connected to the skin of a little patient and the machine automatically adjusts the temperature to the baby's needs.

Premature baby under respirator control

Another device is a respirator. Some specialists believe that it is one of the most important devices in the pathology department. Newborns born before 35 weeks of pregnancy may have difficulty breathing. There is not enough surfactant in their lungs - a substance that reduces the surface tension of the alveoli. It prevents them from collapsing and sticking together when exhaling. A respirator helps your baby breathe. Tubes, intubated through the nose or mouth, deliver a fixed number of times per minute (e.g. 30) appropriate doses of oxygen. Sometimes a baby's breathing is monitored by a special device - an apnea monitor. If he diagnoses that the toddler is not breathing during sleep for more than 20 seconds or the number of breaths has dropped to 10 per minute - a signal will sound. Similar devices are CPAP and the more modern Infant Flow. When a child no longer needs a ventilator, doctors recommend CPAP. It supports the baby's own breathing and prevents the air sacs from collapsing at the top of the exhalation. Infant Flow uses the baby's own respiratory drive: it senses itexhale and it stops introducing oxygen into the nostrils. The preterm's heart and breathing are also monitored. Valid values ​​are 110-160 heartbeats and 30-60 breaths per minute. In case of any danger, the devices connected to the premature baby will trigger an alarm.

According to an expertprof. dr hab. Ewa Helwich, pediatrician, neonatologist, national consultant in the field of neonatology

It's not mom's fault

How to help a mother who feels guilty about giving birth prematurely?

- Moms of premature babies often blame themselves for premature birth. Completely wrong. The doctor should explain to the patient that the premature birth was either unpredictable or that there were reasons beyond the mother's control. If a woman is depressed and cannot cope with bad emotions herself, it is worth contacting a psychologist. His help will also come in handy when a deep sense of guilt makes it difficult for a woman to establish a proper relationship with her child.

How should parents behave in the hospital?

- In most neonatal intensive care units, parents are instructed in detail how and where to wash their hands before entering the room, how to touch a baby lying in an incubator, how to respond to an alarm from monitoring devices, and who to ask about issues of interest to them. Parents should not touch other young patients, enter other rooms, or make calls on cell phones. If the child's condition is stable, mum and dad, although it happens less often in practice, are encouraged to take the so-called kangaroo. It's a way of carrying a baby that helps your premature baby mature. The nurse arranges the baby on the parent's chest and she assists in kangarooing.

How to prepare your home for the arrival of a premature baby?

- There are no special requirements here. We should carefully clean the room where the toddler will stay, prepare the appropriate equipment: a cot, bedding, changing bag, bathtub and clothes of appropriate sizes. They are supposed to be comfortable and not in large amounts, as premature babies grow faster than full-term babies.

Feeding a premature baby

Parents of premature babies feel a lot of anxiety when it comes to feeding. Prematurely born newborns receive nutrition intravenously (parenterally) or via a gastric tube. It is given to special mixtures or mother's milk (thanks to it, the gastric mucosa matures and the body receives valuable nutrients and antibodies). When the probe is not needed, which is usually around 32-34. week of pregnancy (then the suckling reflex develops), you can try to latch the baby to the breast. Breastfeeding is not easybecause it is difficult for your baby to coordinate sucking, swallowing and breathing at first. However, neonatologists emphasize that you should not get discouraged - you need to be patient and maintain a positive attitude so that you do not run out of mother's milk. Subsequent foods can be introduced into the child's diet carefully and after consultation with the pediatrician. It is worth remembering that all stages of feeding premature babies overlap and take quite a long time. This is natural as the little ones have to catch up a lot.

When a premature baby leaves the hospital

Preterm infants usually leave the hospital after a few months. The condition for moving to the family home is their general good he alth, ability to breathe and eat independently. Body weight is also important: the child must weigh more than 2 kg. At home, mom should carefully watch her baby. A child's low activity, lack of visual concentration, lying down in one position, constantly clenched fists, not gaining weight and having difficulty defecating require a doctor's consultation. At 4, 8 and 12 weeks of age, an eye examination is required to rule out retinopathy, a disease that can lead to retinal detachment. In addition, for the first year of life, the child should be under the supervision of a neurologist, sometimes a physical therapist. Every month, the child should be weighed and measured, his psychomotor development should be tested.

A premature baby needs tenderness

Parents of premature babies often fear that they will hurt their babies, even by taking them in their arms. You don't have to be afraid to touch him - we won't hurt him. On the contrary. While still in the ward, doctors recommend stroking and touching the baby. We then give him a feeling of closeness and security, compensating for the many unpleasant medical "touches" that he must undergo when his life is to be saved. You can also hug your baby to your breast. This form of contact is called kangarooing. It is good to gently rock your baby in your arms. Then we provide stimuli to the labyrinth, which is responsible for the sense of balance. Research confirms that children who do not lack the touch of loving parents gain weight faster, get used to light and sounds, and require less oxygen therapy. Already at the age of 6 months they are better developed than their peers.

Proper care of a premature baby

The thin as parchment skin of a premature baby is very delicate, it does not yet have fully developed glands and the stratum corneum, so it is easy to damage. Therefore, the mother should eliminate irritating factors from the environment of her child. Frost, harsh sun, wind, cigarette smoke can irritate his skin and mucous membranes.When the child has problems with moisturizing the mucous membranes and suffers from wheezing, drop moisturizing drops into the nose. Hygienic procedures around a premature baby are basically the same as for babies born at the right time. They only need to be done with greater delicacy and care. Hygiene cosmetics should be very gentle so as not to disturb the protective layer of the epidermis. The good ones will be those intended for allergic children or those special for premature babies. An innovation among care accessories are the recently introduced bathtubs with smaller dimensions than normal ones, with a folding net to support a small cleaning cloth. Also manufacturers of diapers and baby clothes are starting to make them available in sizes below 50. Unfortunately, most of them are only available in online stores. Premature babies have a problem with maintaining an appropriate body temperature. And since the heat escapes mainly through the head, it is also worth wearing a hat at home. Socks and gloves will also be useful after the bath. When your child is finally home, you'll be visited by relatives and friends. Remember, however, that a premature baby does not have a fully functional immune system yet and these visits can harm him - there is a risk that the guests will unknowingly bring in bacteria and germs. So at the beginning try to limit the visits of strangers a bit, even the most kind - for the sake of your child. However, for the first walk, go on a warm day, without strong wind and rain, so that your baby does not get cold.

Important

The biggest problems are those born before 28 weeks of gestation, which is roughly 1000 grams or less. The world record is the birth of a premature baby weighing less than 300 grams (in Japan and the USA).

In Poland, every tenth child is born prematurely. There is no coordinated medical care and prevention of RS virus infections for premature babies

Source: lifestyle.newseria.pl

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