Tundraco's Daily Living Guide to Health Common Problems in Premature Infants

A premature baby is identified as any infant born before the 38^th week of gestation.

For a parent, one of the most obvious and common problems, with a premature infant is that he cannot be immediately taken home. Often he must remain in the hospital at least until he has reached his expected due date. More often, a preemie must remain for longer periods due to medical complications.

• Preemies are kept in the hospital because their condition often requires specialized care or the use of medical equipment. For example, many preemies need to be kept in an incubator to ensure that they are kept sufficiently warm. Without this specialized equipment, many preemies would not survive.

• Preemies often need special feeding assistance because their swallowing reflex may not be fully developed. This often means that they are fed through a tube that is inserted into the nose and which runs down into the stomach. They also often need to receive nutritional supplements in addition to breastmilk or formula.

Because preemies are born undeveloped, they are at a greater risk of suffering medical complications and of contracting infections due to impaired immune systems.

• Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) - Preemies often have trouble breathing on their own. This is because their bodies are unable to produce a substance called surfactant. Surfactant is needed to help keep the air passages in the lungs open. In order to keep the baby alive until he begins to produce surfactant on his own; preemies often need to be placed on a respirator.
• Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) - BPD is a chronic form of RDS and often requires that a preemie be kept on a respirator for more than a month.
• Respiratory Infections – Because preemies are born with impaired lung function and with a weakened immune system, they are very susceptible to respiratory infections, such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
• Heart Function – In addition to being born with impaired lung function, many preemies also have difficulty controlling their heart rate satisfactorily, because the part of the brain that controls the heart beat is not yet mature enough to handle the task.
• Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) - is a potentially serious condition which occurs when the blood vessels between the lungs and heart do not close after birth. By remaining open, blood can flow into the lungs causing the infant to literally drown in his own blood. This can be treated both medicinally and surgically.
• Low Blood Pressure - Often a side effect of another condition such as RDS, low blood pressure is a common preemie condition.
• Anemia - A baby is considered anemic when he has a low red blood cell count. If the levels fall too low, the baby may require a blood transfusion.
• Apnea – When a baby repeatedly stops breathing for several seconds, and then spontaneously begins breathing again, he is said to have apnea. This can be a byproduct of immature brain development, which makes it difficult for him to consistently control his breathing and heart rate. In other words, the brain 'forgets' to tell the heart to beat or the lungs to breathe. Once it 'remembers' it sends the proper signals and the baby recovers. This problem usually corrects itself once the brain has had a chance to mature sufficiently.
• Jaundice - Another common medical problem with preemies is that they are often born with, or soon after develop, jaundice. This is due to the liver not yet being fully developed and therefore it does not function properly. Because the liver cannot do its job efficiently, bilirubin tends to build up in the system. As the levels rise, the baby's skin and the whites of his eyes will take on a yellow cast.
• Retinopathy of Prematurity,(ROP) – is caused by the abnormal growth of blood vessels in the eyes of premature infants. This can lead to the formation of scar tissue that can result in vision loss. The causes of ROP are not known, but contributing factors seem to include exposure to light, and variations in oxygen levels.
• Infections – In general, preemies are at a greater risk of contracting an infection due to their impaired immune systems. In addition, preemies are more likely to suffer from complications due to these opportunistic infections because their internal organs are not fully developed and are more susceptible to damage.