Premature baby: what you need to know

Pregnancy is the most wonderful time for both mother and baby. The child is in the most comfortable conditions - completely protected from all troubles, always fed and warm. Of course, many babies do not want to leave their cozy “house” and remain in their mother’s belly a little longer than expected. But it also happens that babies themselves are eager to be born. Why babies are born premature and how this can affect their future life - you will learn from this article.

Causes of premature babies

Establishing prematurity only according to accepted norms of weight and height cannot be assessed as absolutely correct. Especially if the duration of pregnancy is difficult to determine. This method of systematization is used to typify treatment and research, statistical data. There are babies born with impressive weight and height, but with obvious signs of immaturity, which is typical for premature babies. In practice, the widest range of signs should be taken into account in order to assess the actual age of the baby. In general, babies born before 37 weeks of pregnancy are considered premature.

Signs of prematurity:

• faint cry of a newborn;
• shallow, depressed, irregular breathing;
• a small amount of subcutaneous fat, especially if the skin is ruby, dried out, wrinkled, and heavily covered with fluff;
• small and collateral fontanelles are revealed;
• the ears are soft and fit closely to the head;
• the nails have not grown to the phalanges of the fingers;
• the umbilical cord is too low;
• underdeveloped genitals - in boys the testicles should descend into the scrotum, in girls the labia majora should form;
• modest movements, little activity of the limbs;
• physical reflexes are reduced or may be absent, including sucking and breathing reflexes.

Reasons for having children prematurely:

1. Social conditions. Very young or elderly parents. In the first case, this is due to unplanned pregnancies. In the second, the body can no longer bear such a load as bearing a child.
2. Low cultural level of parents. Often, expectant mothers neglect the health of the fetus and do not want to give up bad habits. Also, not everyone conscientiously undergoes the necessary medical examinations. Remember, first of all you need this if your goal is to have a healthy baby. According to statistics, mothers who do not attend antenatal clinics during pregnancy have a 5-fold higher mortality rate. Compared to conscientious mothers.
3. A big factor in miscarriage is harmfulness at work, negative habits - smoking, heavy manual labor. Tobacco smoking has a negative impact on the health of the fetus not only of the mother, but also of the father.
4. Maternal diseases, infections and viruses during pregnancy. As well as unauthorized taking of medications, without the consent of a specialist.
5. Anemia, VSD, somatic diseases of the pregnant woman. Developmental anomalies of the female genital organs.
6. Having had an abortion in the past.

Premature babies development

It is impossible to say immediately and definitely how a premature baby will develop. Because its development is influenced by many factors.

What does the development of a child born prematurely depend on:

• parents' attitude;
• quality of baby's nutrition;
• degree of care and attention to the child;
• social status of the family.

As a rule, premature babies catch up with their peers in terms of height and weight by year. But for this you need to closely monitor the work of each system of the child’s body. There are no serious differences between premature infants and children born at term. But these babies are different in appearance.

External differences of premature babies:

1. The skin is wrinkled and more red in color.
2. The red skin is explained by the fact that such babies have not accumulated enough subcutaneous fat.
3. Not fully formed skull.
4. Displacement of the large fontanel.
5. Mastering basic children's skills occurs somewhat later than usual.

How strong will the baby be? fall behind from peers depends on how healthy the baby was born and what degree of prematurity he had. Of course, children born as close as possible to the required 40 weeks will be practically no different from others. Provided you are in good health. And a baby born before the 30th week of pregnancy may be delayed by 3-4 months.

Norms for a premature baby

There are categories of premature babies according to their birth weight:

• Degree 1 - gestational age 35-37 weeks, baby weight from 2 to 5.5 kg.
• Degree 2 - gestational age 32-34 weeks, birth weight from 1.5 to 2 kg.
• 3rd degree pregnancy period is 29-31 weeks and the baby’s weight is from 1 to 1.5 kg.
• Stage 4 prematurity is assigned to children born before 29 weeks and weighing up to 1 kg.

1. In the first month after birth, a premature baby is very vulnerable to bacteria and infections outside world. He's not ready yet resist them on their own.
2. Most often, babies born prematurely do not have a sucking-swallowing reflex. Therefore, such children are usually fed through a tube. But by the end of the first month the reflex should be developed.
3. As a rule, premature babies are not active. But after 2-3 months, things will most likely change dramatically.
4. Since such a baby is also not yet ready to breathe on his own, at first he needs an oxygen tube.
5. A normally developing baby gains little at 1 month of age weight. But by the end of the second he catches up.
6. Such babies cannot yet warm themselves, so they are in dire need of normal temperature conditions in the air around them. About 24 degrees.
7. At the age of 4 months, these babies begin to make sounds and raise their heads. From this time on, you can begin a light massage. Be sure to give air baths.
8. Starting from 5 months, babies are interested in toys. They begin to pick them up. Since that month, they have increasingly caught up with the development of ordinary children.

Remember that each child is unique and develops according to his own schedule. If the baby does not meet generally accepted standards, but no pathologies are observed, it simply means that his time has not come yet.

Formula for premature babies

The formula for low birth weight and premature babies is easy to distinguish - it is marked PRE in the name. A distinctive feature of this diet is increased fat content. Since low birth weight babies need a little more nutrients than usual. The earlier the baby is born, the greater his need for protein and fats.

If you feed an “early” baby a regular formula, then weight gain and fat tissue growth will occur slowly.

The optimal intake is 3-4 g of protein and 6-6.5 g of fat per day. This will ensure the full development of the baby. If these indicators increase, metabolic disorders are possible. Moreover, the proteins must be whey. The child’s body is simply not yet able to assimilate others.

Doctors will tell you how often and for what period to feed your baby formula. Depending on how quickly the baby gains the desired weight. It is worth noting that for children weighing less than 1.8 kg, there should be other formulas. This type of nutrition is offered only by Similak and Nutrilon. Other companies produce formula for children weighing 1.8-2 kg.

Each company that produces infant formula has in its assortment an offer for low-birth-weight babies. And the choice of formula depends only on medical prescriptions, the child’s reaction to nutrition and the financial capabilities of the parents.

Nursing premature babies

At first, such a child must be in intensive care. In a special chamber where the required temperature and humidity are maintained and there is an oxygen tube. Only specialists can say how long the child will have to stay there.

As soon as the baby learns to breathe on his own, he is transferred to the intensive care unit. All conditions for it will also be maintained there.

A premature baby must constantly undergo various medical checks. This measure is necessary for the timely identification of possible deviations and their prompt correction.

Caring for a premature baby

The whole difficulty of caring for such a baby is that the child is not yet prepared for life separately from mom. His nervous system is not yet strong enough for this.

Babies born ahead of schedule need increased parental attention more than others. They need to organize the most suitable conditions, love unconditionally and believe that they will be able to catch up with their peers. Prematures are the same children, we just wanted to see the white light a little earlier.