 Commonly seen premature birth complications
Added: 02/21/2006 |
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The article will give you an overview of the most common premature birth complications which are rarely seen in full-term babies. In some cases the premature birth complications can be fairly mild, but on the other hand they may be quite severe and lead to various long-term health problems and sometimes can even be fatal. This is likely to occur in babies born between the 32nd and 34th weeks of pregnancy.
There a great number of various premature birth complications and in this article. we will tell you about the most widely spread ones By the way, premature birth risk can be met by any woman and therefore - the risk of complications is rather common.
So, one of the serious premature birth complications is respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), a breathing problem which mainly affects the babies born before the 34th pregnancy week. About 20% of babies born in this period suffer from this complication. In this case the babies are provided with the protein (known as surfactant) which keeps the air sacs in the baby's lungs from collapsing. The mentioned surfactant treatment helps babies breath more easily. It is interesting to admit that since the introduction of this treatment in 1990, the number of deaths caused by RDS has been reduced by two-thirds. Another spread RDS treatment method is gas nitric oxide which is aimed at improving the baby's breathing by helping lungs blood vessels to relax. If premature baby stops breathing for twenty second or even more this condition is called apnea. Such interruption might also be accompanied by slow heart rate. As a matter of fact, premature babies are always monitored for apnea. How should a doctor cope with this problem? Usually the nurse pats the baby or touches the soles of its feet.
Speaking premature birth complications it is necessary to tell you a few words about bleeding in the brain which is most common in babies born before the 34th week of pregnancy. This condition is called in medicine intraventricular hemorrhage (or IVH) and is known to cause pressure in the brain which might result in brain damage.
One of the commonly seen premature birth heart complications is patent ductus arteriosus (or PDA). In premature babies the ductus may not close properly which is likely to cause lack of oxygen and heart failure. The condition is usually diagnosed with a special form of ultrasound called echocardiography or some other imaging tests. How can a baby be treated? Nowadays there is a wide range of drugs, which help close the ductus. However, in severe cases (when drugs do not work) the baby may require surgery.
Necrotizing enterocolitis (or NEC) and Retinopathy of prematurity (or ROP) also belong to the list of premature birth complications. NEC is considered to be the potentially dangerous intestinal problem seen in most premature babies two or three weeks after birth. This condition is known to lead to abdominal swelling, feeding difficulties and other complications. In severe cases the bowel can be damaged. That is why a baby might require surgery for removing the damaged areas of the intestine. Speaking about ROP, I cannot but say that this condition is characterized by abnormal and excessive growth of blood vessels inside the baby's eye. It occurs mainly in babies born before the 32nd week of pregnancy. Be aware that this condition may lead to vision loss or blindness (as a result of bleeding and scars in the eye).
We have described some possible premature birth complications. Among other ones are jaundice, anemia, chronic lung disease and, of course, infections. Anyway, you should be aware of them and take care of making proper diagnosis of your baby's health.
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