Marking 'World Prematurity Day' on November 17, the Women's Center of of Motherhood Hospital released a 1000 purple helium balloons to create public awareness.
Coimbatore: India accounts for one-fifth of 15 million premature births, which is an unenviable record. Highlighting the need for neonatal care facilities in India and how premature babies can have a normal life, Dr. Saranya Manickaraj, a Neonatologist spoke to SimpliCity:
What is premature birth?
A baby born before 37 weeks, before the expected standard delivery date, can be considered premature birth. While medical practices and advanced technologies make the survival of babies better, the need for special attention is needed when a baby is born before 28 weeks. In simple terms, the lesser the weeks of the delivery, the more the chances for a Caesarian birth, popularly called a C-section.
What happens after a premature birth?
Premature babies are more prone to health issues. Besides problems related to cardiac, respiratory, seizures, lung issues, these babies are mostly affected by infections. It requires everybody, including the mother of a baby, to get sanitised. A mother should not have sharp nails and ornaments on the hands while handling her baby. We advise parents to sanitise themselves before carrying a baby since it prevents them from getting an infection. Cases of neonatal infections are minimum when such precautions are taken, sometimes along with antibiotics if infections persist.
How long does it take for premature babies with infections to recover?
Much depends on the date that the child was born. The more the weeks in the womb, the lesser the time to be cured. While it doesn't require a Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for babies born after 28 weeks, babies born before 28 weeks will require the first two levels for baby care. These three levels of NICUs are nothing but care units with advanced technologies.
How do you help a premature baby lead a normal life?
To help premature babies have a normal life, we allow the parents to access the NICU 24/7, which helps babies gain confidence. We do things transparently, so a parent and child do not undergo trauma while we do our medical care. We celebrate whenever a child gains weight. Besides, we also provide psychological support to the parents as most of them are known to undergo mental stress due to premature birth. Pain control in newborns, early skin-to-skin care, turning down lights, zero-noise policy and music therapy are some of the steps that we take to ensure that the premature infant does not undergo trauma during medical procedures.
We always ensure mothers are holding their infants when we do our medical duties, since it makes the child believe that their mothers are with them which also helps them gain confidence. However, a baby can also lead a normal life with the availability of non-invasive ventilation medical procedures.
How best can premature babies be nourished?
Breastfeeding as soon as the child is born plays a main role in curing many issues that a premature infant may face. Every parent may not be able to follow the prescribed diet for their premature babies or have the privilege to access nutritional faciliteis. But antenatal registration is high since the Tamil Nadu Government has improvised a lot in public health. The Government provides nutrition packages, iron and folic acid tablets, and vaccines as per schedule to the public and now almost all public have the privilege to access healthcare.
Taking care during pregnancy can prevent premature birth which again reiterates the importance of regular antenatal checks. Seek proper help as and when required, and also after a baby is born premature since it will speed up the process of recovery.