Frequent questions He asks the doctor Beginning   
UNDER WEIGHT ON HAVING BEEN BORN
DENOMINATION DEFINITION CLASSIFICATION FACTORS TREATMENT TO BE ABLE TO CONSULT MORE

DENOMINATION

  • Premature baby.

DEFINITION

Under weight, on having been born, it is a term that is used to describe the babies who are born with a minor weight to 2.500 grams. The babies with low weight, on having been born, are much smaller than those who are born with a normal weight. They are very thin, with scarce adipose textile and his head it turns out to be bigger than the rest of the body.

The Spanish Society of Neonatology (SEN) has been alert on the important increase of the number of newborn babies of high risk in Spain (premature babies or of low weight), which increased in 13 % in the last three years with regard to the previous triennium.

On having been born, the low weight is the second cause of death during the period of lactation, preceded by the congenital defects. By means of the prevention and the treatment of the low weight, on having been born, it is possible to increase the number of babies who survive to the first year of life.

CLASSIFICATION

The babies with low weight, on having been born, belong to two categories:

  • Preterm (or premature baby): they are born before 37 weeks of gestation and can or not have a size adapted for his age gestacional. The increase of the births before the term they can reflect partly the increase of the Caesarean interventions and the childbearings in major than 35 years.
  • Child for the date (for the age gestacional): they can be premature babies or it not be, but they weigh less than 90 % of the babies of his age gestacional. His small size generally is a consequence of an inadequate prenatal nutrition, which diminishes the fetal growth. It is much as regards the multiple pregnancies.

FACTORS OF RISK

Who have chance of procreating a baby with low weight? The factors that increase the possibility that a woman has a baby with low weight on having been born include:

  1. Demographic and socioeconomic factors as African American origin, age lower than 17 or superior to 40, poverty, unmarried state or illiteracy.
  2. Medical factors before to the pregnancy, like having no had children previously or having more than 4, being of low height or thin, having already had some baby of low weight or abortion, having been born with low weight or suffering genitourinarias alterations or chronic hypertension.
  3. Factors of the behavior and prenatal environment, for example, an insufficient nutrition, inadequate prenatal nutrition, to smoke, I consume of alcohol or other drugs, or exhibition to big heights, to poisonous substances or to the stress.
  4. Medical conditions associated with the pregnancy, like bled vaginal, infection, low or high blood pressure, anemia, scarce increase of weight or to have had the last pregnancy in 6 previous months. The surest interval between pregnancies is 18 to 23 months.
Many of these factors are related between themselves. The high risk in case of the adolescent moms can owe more to the bad feeding and inadequate prenatal medical attention than at his age, since they are usually adolescents of scarce resources. At least, on having been born, the fifth part of all the cases of low weight is related to nicotinism. If we join it to the low weight of the mother we obtain the combination that causes two third parts of the cases. The women can reduce his possibilities of having a baby of low weight eating well, neither smoking nor consuming drugs, consuming little or nothing of alcohol and looking for a suitable medical attention.
The African American babies have the double of possibilities of being born with low weight, because they have major possibility of being born premature, even between university students. The Puerto Rican babies have 1.5 more possibility of being born with low weight that the targets.

TREATMENT AND RESULTS

The babies of low weight are more vulnerable to the infections and often his development is not sufficient as to suck therefore they need to be fed by intravenous route. Also they have no fat to generate heat and it is frequent that suffer the syndrome of respiratory difficulty (membrane illness hialina).

The babies with low weight are put in an incubator (antiseptic cradle, with controlled temperature) and they fed by means of probes. To resist the sensory lack of the incubator, it is recommended to the personnel of the hospital and to the parents to offer to the babies a special dealing. The soft massage seems to propitiate his growth, the organization of the behavior, the increase of weight, the activity motorboat and the state of alert.

With regard to his long-term development, studies demonstrate that it is usually good due to the support pursuit. The genre (the males can have more difficulties) and other demographic factors, like the income of the parents or the level of education of the mother as well as his marital status, they seem to play an important role if the child with low weight, on having been born, will suffer or not emotional limitations and of language.

TO SEE ALSO

WHAT DOCTOR CAN TREAT ME?

To look a specialist Service offered for
Writing: Medical equipment   Update: June, 2009
Know the limitations of this service


Our Feature links that help to sponsor our site
Rent house - Isla Mujeres , www.elegant-auto.co.uk , used cars , paddeln , site.auto-moto-blog.co.uk , automobiles.money4car.co.uk ,hobby blog