Ten percent of children born in the world do so prematurely, before the 37th week of gestation. In Spain, the number of premature births exceeds seven percent of the total, according to the National Institute of Statistics, being one of the European countries with the highest rates of premature births.
The most disconcerting thing about premature births is that neither the family nor the baby itself are prepared for this arrival in the world before its time . The babies were expected weeks later, and many even months after their birth occurred, some arrive in the world in a situation of extreme prematurity, those born between weeks 22 and 28 of gestation.
Complications of premature babies
Prematurity is a neonatal condition that potentially affects many areas of development. They are more vulnerable to infections, especially necrotizing enterocolitis, a disease that causes destruction of parts of the intestine, as well as respiratory and gastrointestinal problems due to an immature digestive system.
Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), a consequence of the lack of maturation of the lungs, is one of the main problems of premature babies. It prevents normal breathing of the newborn and increases the risk of suffering from other respiratory diseases in adulthood.
It is very important that due to their prematurity and due to their immature immune system, the recommendations on the immunization of these little ones are followed to protect them against diseases that could be fatal in their vulnerable situation.
If we ask ourselves about the causes of premature births, the president of APREM, Concha Gómez, points out:
“One of the most important causes of premature birth is maternal age, higher in countries like Spain and Italy; a phenomenon that has its main explanation in the lack of employment or its precariousness, together with the difficulty that exists in our country to reconcile domestic, family and professional life ”.
Increasingly humanized care
Medical and technological advances allow better and better care and more and more premature babies succeed. Survival rates are increasing, but even so, complications related to prematurity are the leading cause of death in children under five years of age globally.
Premature babies are born with little body fat, so skin-to-skin contact is essential to help them regulate temperature, as well as helping them reduce the stress of medical interventions. The Kangaroo Method has been shown to be effective in speeding up the recovery of babies and that is why more and more hospitals allow parents to stay with their children 24 hours while they have to be admitted.
In Babies and more | The Clinic installs cameras in the neonatal ICU so that parents can see their premature babies 24 hours a day
