PREMATURE BABIES: UNDERSTANDING THEIR NEEDS

Congratulations! You have welcomed a new baby to your family! While every child brings his own joys and challenges, you may be worried because your baby was born earlier than expected. But as you will see, while premature infants may need extra care at first, they have bright futures.

Every year, about 11% of babies are born prematurely. But, thanks to medical advances, children born after 28 weeks and weighing more than 2 lb 3 oz, have a 95% or better chance of survival. They usually catch up in height and weight with their peers by age 2. In fact, 80% of babies born after the 30th week of pregnancy have no long-term health or developmental problems.

Because your child was born early and may have some health problems, you may be afraid to plan too far ahead. But it is never too early to start bonding with your child. Today, premature babies have a good chance of doing well, thanks to medical advancements and early intervention.

Your child may need special tests as well as medical help that is different from that needed by full-term babies. It may be a few days or weeks before his lungs fully develop, before he begins to breathe and feed on his own, and before he is able to maintain his own body temperature.

Your baby will probably be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit or a neonatal intermediate care unit. There, a specially educated team of doctors and nurses can give your child the care he needs.

In the special care unit, your baby will be carefully monitored. Here are some of the ways that doctors and nurses can assess and monitor your child:

· Apgar Score: This exam measures your baby's heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflex response, and color at birth. The Apgar score helps the hospital staff know how your baby is doing as he gets used to life outside the womb. Because of their early birth, premature babies are more likely to have lower scores.

· Cardiorespiratory Monitor: Because your baby's lungs are still immature, he may have trouble breathing. His breathing and heart rate can be watched using special equipment called a cardiorespiratory monitor. If he needs help breathing, the doctors may give him extra oxygen or use other equipment to help him breathe.

· Warmer/Incubator: Because your baby has less body fat, he can get cold in normal room temperatures. For that reason, he will be placed in a warmer bed or an incubator. These special beds have built-in heaters to help keep your baby warm.