What You Need to Know About Premature Babies

Causes of Premature Birth

There are many factors that influence miscarriage. Some of them can be avoided with some effort, while others are beyond the control of even the best doctors.

1. Social and biological factor.

• Age. Parents over 40 or, on the contrary, too young are at risk. Basically, age is important for the expectant mother.
• Unhealthy lifestyle. Not only the woman, but also the expectant father should not abuse alcoholic beverages and drugs. Statistics show that the birth rate of children with severe disabilities in smoking fathers is significantly higher than in non-smoking fathers. In addition, it is important for the expectant mother to eat a complete and balanced diet, because a deficiency of nutrients, as well as vitamins and minerals, has an adverse effect on pregnancy.
• Place of work. Women working in harmful conditions, even during the period of conception, have a high risk of not carrying a child to term. Heavy physical labor is also very dangerous.
• Low level of education. Parents who have not received proper education and full upbringing in the family do not consider it necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle and see a doctor. Among mothers who have never visited a women's clinic, the rate of premature births and stillbirths is 5 times higher than among women registered with an obstetrician-gynecologist.
• Single-parent family. Single women are more susceptible to stress than married women. Therefore, even with a planned pregnancy, they fall into the risk zone.

2. Medical factor.

• Pathologies of uterine development.
• Premature placental abruption.
• Intrauterine diseases and fetal malformations.
• Preconception abortions.
• Isthmic-cervical insufficiency.
• Gestosis.
• The presence of latent chronic infectious diseases.
• Psychological and physical trauma.
• Multiple pregnancy.
• Short interval between births (less than 2 years).
• Existing extragenital pathology in the pregnant woman.

Features of the development of premature babies

The development of the baby depends on the degree of his prematurity. If the child does not have health problems, then with proper care he gradually catches up with his peers. After discharge from the hospital, newborns sleep a lot, move little and get tired quickly. By two months they become more active, but still master the necessary skills a little later.

Height and weight increase at an accelerated rate. By 3 months. weight doubles, and by 12 months increases 4-6 times. Babies grow by 27-38 cm during the first year. For a long time, their hands are clenched into fists, their palms do not open, their thumbs do not move away, so they begin to hold a toy a little later. They do not hold their head up at the required 1.5 months, but at 3 months. They begin to sit at 8 months, instead of the average 6 months, stand at 9 months, and walk after a year.

The central nervous system is not sufficiently developed. Respiratory arrhythmia often occurs. The gastrointestinal system lacks enzymes, which leads to frequent regurgitation, increased gas formation, and poor absorption of food.

Parents should stock up not only on patience, but also on certain skills to speed up the process of development and adaptation of the baby. The help of a qualified massage therapist and doctor will not be superfluous. After all, daily skillful and professional care significantly reduces the level of lag.

Features of caring for a premature baby and its nutrition

Prematurely born babies have very low weight (from 500 g to 2.5 kg) and weak immunity. Therefore, the risk of infection should be eliminated by limiting the access of strangers to the child. Each disease is a huge stress for a weak organism, which significantly slows down its adaptation.

Such children need enhanced nutrition, so a nursing mother should take a multivitamin complex and eat well to enrich the milk with all the necessary vitamins and minerals. It is permissible to introduce special mixtures with an increased concentration of nutrients into the newborn's diet.

While minor weight loss will not cause harm to a healthy baby, for a premature baby this can be a disaster.

Due to the still unsettled thermoregulation, there is a high probability of both overheating and hypothermia of the baby. Parents should especially carefully monitor the body temperature of the newborn, maintain the optimal temperature in the room where such a child is.