Premature Infancy Essay -- Babies Birth Early Premature Essays

Premature InfancyPremature babies, otherwise known as preterm babies, or preemies, arebabies that are born anterior than the full-term of cardinal- eight-spot to forty-twoweeks of pregnancy. These babies are generally born between the twentieth andthirty-eighth week. Almost 250,000 babies, nearly s even so percent of newborns,are premature(Golant 4). Prematurity, even with all the advances in technology,is still a major cause of fetal and neonatal death. Actually, around seventy-five percent of perinatal deaths are due to a number of problems associatedwith prematurity(Freeman 232). Premature babies are very weak and defenseless,and need to be hospitalized. One reason for this is that a baby may becomestartled into surprise by a loud sound or even bright light. This occurs becausemany babies soak up fully-developed senses and developing organs, which maybecome a problem, since the brain may not be developed well enough to be ableto distinguish these different senses, which caus es the baby to panic and losecontrol of its actions.The main underdeveloped parts of a premature baby are its organs,chiefly the lungs and the brain. The lungs are developed in the last few weeksof pregnancy, and if the child is born before the thirty sixth week, he/she mayrequire some special attention. Usually, the child is monitored closely forthe first few weeks of its life, in order to make sure there is no problemswith the breathing or any other function of its body. The premature baby exitprobably need supplemental oxygen to help it through the early stages, butrarely will it need an actual respirator or other life-supporting device on afull-time twenty cardinal hour basis. In fact, giving the baby too untold oxygen maycomplicate problems, such as damages to the eyes. This is caused by a over-teemingness of oxygen in the blood stream, which in turn causes the blood vesselsof the eye to expand, damaging the eye. This problem is one of the mainconcerns when bearing a pre-t erm baby versus a full-term baby.Another difference, probably the most noticeable one, is the size andweight of the baby. A preemie will look thin and helpless, and will also havetransparent skin. Blood vessels, veins and bones are sometimes visible throughthe skin of these babies. This is because the skin of a premature baby is veryfragile and tend... ... eight to forty twoweeks, and must get rid of the children from the uterus in order to return thebody to normal and prevent any injuries from occurring inside the mothers womb. many an(prenominal) advances are occurring everyday which enable mothers to feel saferwith the care of premature babies. New drugs are being developed and newmethods are being tested to check out the security of a preemie, enabling the rateof deaths and the rate of premature babies born to both be lowered. Asrecently as 1986, premature babies had a much lower chance of survival, andwith the help of experts, this factor has been greatly reduced. Hopefully, bythe time our generation or our childrens generation begins to think aboutbearing children, there will not be much of a risk of having a premature baby.Works CitedFreeman, Roger, and Pescar, Susan. Safe Delivery Protecting Your Baby DuringHigh-Risk Pregnancy. New York Facts on File, Inc., 1982. Golant, Susan and Ludington, Susan. Kangaroo Care The Best You Can Do To HelpYour Preterm Infant. New York Bantam Books, 1993. Griesemer, Bernard and Pfister, Fred. The Littlest Baby. Englewood Cliffs Prentice-Hall Inc., 1983.