Children in need of special help
Most children who are too small at birth, that is, weigh less than 2.5 kg or were born too early, need some form of special care for survival. Premature babies are usually placed in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Newborns are considered premature if they are born before the 37th week. Children born after 24-25 weeks of pregnancy may be ripe enough to survive, but for some time they need intensive therapy. Children born before the 23rd week usually do not survive. In addition to age, other factors influence the survival, for example, sex( girls are better surviving) and ethnicity( Africans are better able to survive).
Although preterm infants at an earlier age meet the complexities of life, it is important to remember that almost two-thirds of them develop completely normal or have minor or medium deviations.
CARE FOR THE PREGNANT CHILDREN
A premature baby may need an artificial respiration system because his lungs have not yet developed. Premature birth is often accompanied by infections, so the child will be injected with antibiotics and intravenous fluids, both venous and through the umbilical cord. A premature baby can be placed on a special bed with a radiant heat heater to maintain body temperature and apply a special film wrap to reduce heat loss and fluids. It can also be connected to a cardiopulmonary monitor with a pulse meter to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood and to the feed tube.
If the infant is more than 32-34 weeks old, he probably can not suckle or drink from the bottle, then he is inserted through the mouth or nose tube, passing into the stomach. The mother of the premature baby expresses the milk stored in the neonatal intensive care unit until the child can consume it.
Many premature babies are not ready for discharge until the full term of pregnancy. Therefore, children born on the 26th week will stay in the hospital for about three months. In general, the child needs to gain weight, learn to breathe freely( although oxygen may be needed) and eat to leave the neonatal intensive care unit. After discharge, the development of the baby is regularly checked by a group of specialists.