Premature | nurs465-neonatal

Prematurity Defined

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define premature birth as a birth that occurs prior to 37 weeks of pregnancy. A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks. One out of every eight babies in the United States are born premature. Premature babies (preemies) often need special medical care because they may have health problems since their organs did not have time to develop. Preemies are treated in a special medical unit called a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Growth and Development

Premature babies do require special care especially if they are less than three pounds at birth. Special attention is paid to their growth and development. They may be on a special formula if they are not breast-fed and their doctor may recommend vitamins and iron. Premature babies may not grow at the same rate as full-term babies. But they usually catch up in time. Doctors will provide you with special growth charts because they will often follow different dates for milestones.

Sleeping

Premature babies usually sleep more than their full-term counterparts. However, they often wake more frequently and require feeding more frequently. All babies including premature babies should be put on their "back to sleep". This is important with all babies to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Thermoregulation - Heat Balance

Premature infants have trouble regulating normal body temperatures. It is very important to prevent the loss of heat in the neonate. In an attempt to maintain heat balance, the newborn increases cellular metabolism and oxygen consumption which increases the risk for hypoxia. Temperature management is serious and parents can help by monitoring their infants temperature and notifying the nurse if it rises or falls.

Caring for your Premature Baby

In the NICU - Reference Guide

Your Premature Baby

In the NICU Video Part 1

In the NICU Video Part 2

Your Baby In the NICU

The Importance of Thermoregulation

Care for Premature Infant Skin

Birth Defects

Kangaroo Care

What is kangaroo care? It is important skin-to-skin contact between parents and their infants. It has been shown to improve with the heat balance of the newborn, reduces stress and crying, facilitates breast feeding, reduces pain, and facilitates neurodevelopment, maturation, and later mental health outcome. It improves the long-term maternal-infant interactions.

Jaundice

Jaundice is a yellow discoloration in a newborn baby's skin and eyes. This happens because a baby's blood contains an excess of bilirubin. Bilirubin is a yellow colored pigment of red blood cells.

This condition is fairly common in preterm babies (born prior to 38 weeks gestation) and in breast-fed babies. It occurs because the baby's liver isn't mature and can't rid itself of excess bilirubin in the bloodstream. In some cases, an underlying disease causes the jaundice.

Treatment of infant jaundice often isn't necessary and most cases the treatment is done through non-invasive therapy. Although complications are rare, severe infant jaundice or poorly treated jaundice can result in brain damage.

The information on this page is not meant as a substitute for regular visits to your health care professional.

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