The Premature Baby

             A preterm or premature delivery is defined as the birth of the baby between the twentieth and the thirty-sixth week of pregnancy. A baby born during this time period is called premature. About 8 to 10 percent of babies in the United States and Canada are classified as premature.
             Preterm labor occurs because the mother goes into labor early. Most of the time there is no reason for this happening. Sometimes it is associated with the following; multiple pregnancy, abnormally shaped uterus, placenta previa, placenta abruption, high fever in the mother, untreated high blood pressure (toxemia), diabetes, sever infections in the mother, emotional and physical trauma. If a mother goes into preterm labor she has a 25 percent of it happening again.
             There are many complications the delivery of baby prematurely, some of them include; the lungs may not be fully mature, many complications can also arise from the lungs not being fully mature such as respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), and Bronchol Pulmonary Dysplasia (BPD). Both of these lung diseases can result in long term oxygen administration, and if the baby is out of the hospital re-hospitalization. Other problems with the preterm baby include Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), Patent Ductus Arteriosus, Retinopathy of Prematurity (separation of blood vessels in the eyes), Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IUG), appears in the 30 to 40% of preterm infants usually in the first 72 hours of life. It may range from a Grade I Hemorrhage to a Grade IV hemorrhage. Grade I being the least severe and Grade IV the most severe, also preterm babies are more likely to have jaundice. Do to medical advances in the care of premature babies they are now able to save babies that are a pound and even less. Despite these advance prematurity is still the leading cause of death in newborns.
             The parents of full term newborns are often surprised at the appearance of the babies. Paren
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The Premature Baby. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 17:21, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/45264.html