From the moment a woman learns that she is expecting a child, her life is transformed, our actions revolve around keeping the baby healthy and promoting its proper development in the womb. We start taking supplements, eating a healthy and balanced diet, sleeping the necessary hours, and many other things.
But what happens when weeks before our due date, the little life inside us decides it's time to surprise us. It seems that all our efforts have been in vain, and we start looking for what we have done wrong. However, the birth of a premature baby does not always have an explanation.
When is a baby considered preterm?
A baby born before 37 weeks of gestation is considered premature. In Spain 10% of births are premature and of these between 1 and 2 percent are born before 32 weeks, which is called great preemies.
What special care will he/she require?
During a baby's 40 weeks of gestation, there are an infinite number of processes that the baby's little body completes. Not having enough time to complete its development, it will need help to maintain its temperature, feed, and even breathe. The intervention of a team of specialists in Neonatology, Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Otorhinolaryngology, and Pediatric Infectious Diseases will be of vital importance during his stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Once the first few months are over, constant monitoring of your baby's health will be necessary. Attend all your doctor's visits and keep track of your baby's vaccinations. In addition, your doctor will pay special attention to your baby's growth, speech development, learning, motor skills, muscle tone, reflexes, hearing, and vision.
What causes my baby to be premature?
In many cases, doctors do not know the reason why a baby is born prematurely. However, there are known causes such as health problems of the mother:
- Hypertension.
- Diabetes.
- Heart problems.
- Kidney problems.
- Infections.
Multiple pregnancies, low birth weight during pregnancy, bleeding caused by abnormal placental position, smoking, alcohol or drug use during pregnancy can all be causes of premature birth.
How to face the challenge of a premature baby.
As parents we have an idea of what the birth of our children will be like, we idealize it and look forward to the moment of taking our little one home to begin a wonderful stage of life. But when our expectations are not met and we find ourselves in the difficult situation of watching our baby connected to various machines struggling to complete its development, life teaches us a lesson.
Taking care of a premature baby requires a lot of effort, and to do so we must start by taking care of ourselves first. Eating healthy, sleeping when possible, and accepting help from those around us. There are also support groups that we can approach for words of encouragement and success stories.
Modern medicine is able to help our premature baby overcome the difficulties of being born early. With the guidance of specialists and our immense love and care, our premature baby will overcome any obstacle.
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