Premature Baby
A new medical practice for premature babies
-Touching or No Touching-
In the world, more than 300 thousand people are born in a day, but 10 percent of them are born as premature babies. The premature birth rate has increased by about 36 percent since the early 1980s, and many of them have died. Fortunately the good news is that the survival rate of the preterm has increased remarkably due to improvements in neonatology, such as using incubator transport. However, compared with in utero transport, incubator transport, based on separation between with mother and infants, is not natural thing, and it still has risks.
Incubator transport for preterm still has some known disadvantages including infant instability by lack of adequate systems for securing the infant, and separation of mother and infant. Even though it has some risk, it has been known as an optimal practice for care of extensible number of premature infants. According to Statehealthfacts.org, in the United States in 2009, there were 502,306 preterm births born. This is 12.2% of births in the United States, 2009.
Table.1 Number of births, number of preterm births, and preterm births as a percent of all births in the United States 2009
Normal full term babies are born at 38 weeks. Babies born before 37 weeks are defined as premature babies, and those born between 24 and 29 weeks are ‘extremely premature’. They usually have less weight than 1.5kg (3.3lb). And all babies born with less than standard birth weight, 2.1kg (4lb) are at risk. Therefore, babies born early need special care and monitoring to help them to gain weight.
To reduce disadvantages of incubators and improve care preterm babies, ‘Kangaroo care,’ a new medical practice for preterm babies, was introduced and being conducted in some united states medical facilities. Kangaroo care is also known as kangaroo mother care, kangaroo baby care, and skin to skin care. Although the name varies, the concept is that holding an infant,
-Touching or No Touching-
In the world, more than 300 thousand people are born in a day, but 10 percent of them are born as premature babies. The premature birth rate has increased by about 36 percent since the early 1980s, and many of them have died. Fortunately the good news is that the survival rate of the preterm has increased remarkably due to improvements in neonatology, such as using incubator transport. However, compared with in utero transport, incubator transport, based on separation between with mother and infants, is not natural thing, and it still has risks.
Incubator transport for preterm still has some known disadvantages including infant instability by lack of adequate systems for securing the infant, and separation of mother and infant. Even though it has some risk, it has been known as an optimal practice for care of extensible number of premature infants. According to Statehealthfacts.org, in the United States in 2009, there were 502,306 preterm births born. This is 12.2% of births in the United States, 2009.
Table.1 Number of births, number of preterm births, and preterm births as a percent of all births in the United States 2009
Normal full term babies are born at 38 weeks. Babies born before 37 weeks are defined as premature babies, and those born between 24 and 29 weeks are ‘extremely premature’. They usually have less weight than 1.5kg (3.3lb). And all babies born with less than standard birth weight, 2.1kg (4lb) are at risk. Therefore, babies born early need special care and monitoring to help them to gain weight.
To reduce disadvantages of incubators and improve care preterm babies, ‘Kangaroo care,’ a new medical practice for preterm babies, was introduced and being conducted in some united states medical facilities. Kangaroo care is also known as kangaroo mother care, kangaroo baby care, and skin to skin care. Although the name varies, the concept is that holding an infant,
Bibliography: Maria Blois. “Hold Me Close: ‘Encouraging essential mother/baby physical contact’” (2007) Web Feb 22. 2012 < http://www.babywearinginternational.org/Blois_research_summary.pdf> Dieter Sontheimer Celeste Johnson. “Kangaroo care is effective in diminishing pain response in preterm neonates” (2003) Web Mar 11. 2012 < http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/157/11/1084 > Leornard A Bergman. “Kangaroo Mother Care”. Geddes Productions (2003). Web Feb 22. 2012 Web Mhaire Fraser. “Mom Uses Kangaroo Care to Revive Child Pronounced Dead.” Care2 Make a Difference. Web. 22 Feb, 2012 Holly Richardson Krisanne Larimer. “Kangaroo Care Benfits” Premature Baby. Web. 22 Feb, 2012 Kaiser Family Jane Sheppard. “Breastfeeding for a strong immune system”. Web. 20 Mar, 2012 Rebecca M