Why are some children born before the term and what does it threaten?

Preterm birth is the term that occurs after the 28th and until the 39th week of pregnancy, and the premature birth is a fetus born with a mass of more than one kilogram and a growth of more than 35 cm, which is viable. The closer to the end of pregnancy premature birth occurs, the more viable is the premature baby. The causes of premature birth can be infantilism, intoxications, transferred by a woman, incompatibility of blood of the mother and fetus by Rh factor or other, group blood factors. Significant violations of the glands of internal secretion and the nervous system in pregnant women. Quite often, premature birth occurs with multiple pregnancies, the wrong position of the fetus. Some other reasons are also important. The provoking factors include injuries and negative emotions, which in the presence of the above reasons contribute to the onset of premature birth.

Premature births have a number of characteristics. Thus, with them the weakness of labor is more common; a premature outflow of amniotic fluid occurs more often; they last longer than normal births; are more often complicated by bleeding in the postpartum period. With preterm labor, asphyxia and fetal injuries are more common.

Recently, cases of preterm labor have increased. This is associated, on the one hand, with the deteriorating environmental situation, on the other hand, with the deterioration of the health status of women. But if earlier the birth of a premature baby was equivalent to a death sentence, now children's doctors are able to care for such children. And although this is a very complicated and painstaking affair, which requires considerable effort and resources, it is sometimes possible to care for children born with a weight of less than one kilogram. Of course, in many respects the outcome of such pregnancy and childbirth depends on the ability of the premature to adapt in the external environment: the ability to suck; ability to keep body temperature; ability to independent breathing. This ability should be considered in more detail. The fact is that in the lungs a special substance is formed - a surfactant, which prevents their decay. If its number is not enough, the child develops a syndrome of respiratory distress (SDR), because of which most often premature babies die. Therefore, immediately after birth, premature infants are injected with this substance in order to prevent the development of SDR.

A child born prematurely has some characteristics that distinguish him from other children. First, he did not reach the degree of maturity, as in ordinary children. In this regard, his muscle tone is not the same as in full-term newborns (they have a tone of flexors, and in preterm infants - the tone of flexors and extensors is unstable). Such children wiggle their pens and legs too much, which especially hinders them in the period of falling asleep. Therefore, despite the recommendations of the free swaddling of newborns, premature babies should be swaddled in such a way as to give them a pose of an "embryo", that is, a bent position with the handles and legs brought to the trunk.

Secondly, the body of a premature baby lacks some trace elements (magnesium, phosphorus). Therefore, such a child should be examined more carefully and more often by a specialist. It may be necessary to prescribe drugs to accelerate the recovery of muscle tone and normalize the nervous system.

In premature babies, softer bones (this is due to lack of calcium and phosphorus), so you need to ensure that the baby, lying in the crib, is not constantly in the same position. Otherwise, he may develop skull deformities. At the same time, you need to turn his head one or the other. And if you want to give your head a medial position, you can roll the diaper into the cushion and lay it with a ringlet under the child's head.

With proper care and treatment, if necessary, premature babies quickly catch up with their peers in development and in the future do not differ from them in any physical or intellectual terms. For example, Mozart was born prematurely, but this had no effect on him (except for his genius).