What is Prematurity?

We all love and adore newborn babies, of course some more so than others, but majority of people just can't stop staring at their big eyes and cuddling them. However, how many of you are aware of how hard some newborns have to fight to survive. For most women, pregnancy lasts for 40 weeks, babies born between 37 weeks and 40 weeks are considered as full-term and babies born before 37 weeks are considered as premature. Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant mortality, the 3 primary causes are respiratory failure, infection and congenital malformation.

There are some factors that could potentially cause premature birth, for example, the age of the mother (under 16 or over 35) or the use of tobacco during pregnancy, also pregnancy with twins/triplets can also lead to preterm birth, however, usually preterm birth cannot be explained. Although premature birth is uncommon it can cause many complications for the newborn.

A premature baby might have complications breathing due to an immature respiratory system, if they lack lung surfactant, a substance that allows the lungs to expand, this may cause them to develop respiratory distress syndrome. Preterm birth may also cause brain problems, the earlier the baby is born the higher the risk of bleeding in the brain, intraventricular hemorrhage. This can have a mild effect but some babies that have a larger brain bleeding that causes permanent brain damage. The most common heart problem preterm babies experience is Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) or low blood pressure. PDA is a constant persistent opening  between the aorta and the pulmonary artery, if this is left untreated it can cause a heart murmur or even heart failure and ultimately lead to death.

Prematurity doesn't just affect the beginning of life, but can also have serious long term consequences. For example, preterm babies are more likely lag behind in there various there development milestones, children born prematurely are more likely to have learning disabilities. Also they are more likely to have behavioural and psychological problems, as well as hearing, dental and vision problems.

Infants and babies are part of everyone's life, whether they’re siblings, cousins or even your friend’s children. Being surrounded by happy and playful children, people seem to forget that not every child gets to experience life in the same way. 

Thanks for reading 
Kethujah Sethurajah

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/premature-birth/symptoms-causes/syc-20376730

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PTSD - A Psychodynamic Explanation

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder which you may develop after being involved in, or witnessing, traumatic events. The condition was first recognised in war veterans and has been known by a variety of names, such as 'shell shock'. PTSD can develop immediately after someone experiences a disturbing event, or it can occur weeks, months or even years later. Its estimated to affect about 1 in every 3 people who have a traumatic experience, but it's not clear exactly why some people develop the condition and others do not. There are many theories that could be used to explain this condition. Psychodynamic approaches to PTSD focus on a number of different factors that may influence or cause PTSD symptoms, such as early childhood experiences, current relationships and the things people do to protect themselves from upsetting thoughts and feelings that are the result of experiencing a traumatic event. The psychodynamic approach focuses mainly...
Read more

Disparities in Global Eye Care

Vision is one of our most precious possessions. Multiple polls globally show that most people are more fearful of becoming blind than losing any other sense. (1,2) With sight being such a valuable asset, one would assume that eyecare is at the forefront of medical services across the world. Living in the developed world, we perhaps take for granted the simple and yet crucial services available to us such as regular eye tests, glasses, contact lenses and high-quality ophthalmic care - most of which can be accessed for free or at a subsidised price. However, in many parts of the world this is not the case. 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired, with 90% being from developing countries. (3) In China, for example, levels of blindness are increasing each year, however critically, rates of blindness have been reported at up to 4 times higher in the developing world as compared to more economically developed countries (4, 5). This is particularly worrying given that around 80% of...
Read more

Do Contact Lenses Really “Support Your Vision”?

Image
Contact lenses have been frequently used as an alternative to glasses. Compared to the heavy-framed glasses in front of one’s eyes (optic glasses), thin plastic discs on the eye (contact lenses) help correct refractive errors in both myopic and hypermetropic users. The lens’ shape and power can be tailored to the user’s sight. A concave lens can be used to decrease myopia by reducing light refraction and increasing focal length so that the image is formed on the retina (1)  (Figure 1). Alternatively, a convex lens can be used to limit hypermetropia in an opposing mechanism to concave lenses (1) (Figure 1). Figure 1, An illustration of myopia and hyperopia and how adding lens of different shapes in front of the eye can be used to alter the refraction of light and correct each impairment in vision (10) Besides supporting sight, which both types of lenses can do, contact lenses confer some advantages that make them preferable to glasses. Unlike glasses, contact lenses are less li...
Read more