NEONATOLOGY

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NEONATOLOGY

• Branch of medicine that focuses on newborns

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Motor Development

• Basic REFLEXES, unlearned, organized, involuntary
  responses that occur automatically in the
  presence of certain stimuli, represent behavior
  that has survival value for the infant .

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MORO (STARTLE)

• Loud sounds or being dropped a few inches
• Spread arms and stretch out fingers
• Bring arms back to body and clench fingers

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STEPPING

• Baby held vertically
• Appear to be walking

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GRASPING (PALMAR)

• Applies to toes as well as fingers
• Will close their fingers over any object when it
  is placed in their palm
• May be able to support full weight for up to a
  minute

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ROOTING

• When cheek is touched, babies move mouth toward
  the stimulus
• Toward the hand that pushes

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SUCKING

• If a finger is put in
• a babys mouth they
• suck and make
• rhythmic movements
• with the mouth and
• tongue

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• Some reflexes stay throughout life others
  disappear over time.
• Some researchers believe reflexes stimulate the
  brain toward development.
• Reflexes are genetically determined and universal
  and may be remnants from the past.
• Reflexes can serve as helpful diagnostic tools
  for pediatricians because they appear and
  disappear on a regular timetable.

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HIGH RISK INFANTS

• Premature
• 3 weeks before
• 38-week term
• Low birth weight
• Weigh less than
• 5.5 lbs average
• is 7.5 lbs

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CAUSES

• Poor prenatal care
• Poor nutrition
• Mothers age (over 35 or under 19)
• Mothers reproductive condition
• Too many pregnancies too close together
• Mothers drinking, smoking, and drug use habits

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RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME

• Lack pulmonary surfactant in their lungs
• Before birth in the amniotic sac
• Lubricates the lungs
• Does not develop until the fetus is about 35
  weeks old
• Drip surfactant into lungs of premature
• Cut rate of death by more than 50

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ISOLETTE (INCUBATOR)

• Controls temperature
• and air flow
• Protects the baby
• from germs

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PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

• Smaller eyes
• Narrower, almost pointy heads
• Relatively long distance between their noses and
  months
• Parents may be less likely to interact with a
  baby whose looks disappoint them

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BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS

• No regular wake-sleep pattern
• Cry more and their cries sound more distressed
• Particularly hard to quiet make them more
  vulnerable to neglect or abuse
• Narrower band of arousal
• Tend to smile less and less responsive to
  parents efforts to play with them

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Effects of Massage Touch on Weight Gain
The weight gain of premature infants who were
systematically massaged is greater than those who
did not receive the massage.
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INDIVIDUALITY OF NEWBORNS

• Easy
• Biologically regular and rhythmical
• Regular sleeping and eating
• Accepts new food and people
• Not easily frustrated
• Difficult
• Withdraw from new stimuli adapt slowly
• Mood often negative
• Slow-to-warm
• Withdraw from activities quietly
• Show interest in new situations only if allowed
  to do so gradually

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BRAIN AT BIRTH

• Born early in brain development
• 25 adult weight
• Major portion brain growth outside the womb
• Lower brain better developed brain stem,
  cerebellum, limbic system
• Breath, eat sleep, control of vital organs
• Severe malnutrition inadequate brain growth
  mental retardation

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• Infants are born with between 100 and 200 billion
  NEURONS ( the nerve cells of the nervous system)
• All the neurons they will ever have
• As the infant's experience in the world
  increases, neurons that do not become
  interconnected become unnecessary and die off

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The Neuron
The basic element of the nervous system
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MYELIN SHEATH

• Insulating sheath
• Found on some neurons
• Speeds neural transmission

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Networks of neurons become more complex over the
first few years of life.
Neuron Networks
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BRAIN MATURATION

• First Two Years
• Triple in size
• Reach 75 to 80 adult weight dimensions
• What grows are axons dendrites that connect
  neurons the myelin

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CORTEX

• Mantle of cells covering the cerebral hemispheres
• Immature at birth
• Areas develop at different rates
• Sensory information leads cortex to grow neural
  connections to develop

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The Major State Occupying the Infant Is Sleep

• On average, newborns sleep 16-17 hours daily,
  ranging from 10-20 hours a day.
• Sleep stages are fitful and "out of sync" during
  early infancy.
• By the end of the first year most infants are
  sleeping through the night .

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REM SLEEP

• REM - RAPID EYE MOVEMENT - period of sleep found
  in adults and children that is associated with
  dreaming)
• Active rem-like sleep takes up half an infants
  sleep at first.
• Researchers think the function of REM sleep in
  infants is to provide a means for the brain to
  stimulate itself (autostimulation).

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REM Sleep Through the Lifespan
REM sleep increases the total amount of sleep
falls as we age.
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SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME

• Leading killer of infants 16 0f babies who die
  before their first birthday
• - 90 before 6 months of age, mostly between 2
  4 months
• Presently no known medical explanation
• - possible causes lack of breastfeeding, upper
  respiratory infections, respiratory system
  collapse
  during sleep, exposure to
  secondhand smoke
• - risk factors smoking during pregnancy,
  premature birth
• Occurs most frequently in the winter
• In the US, rates highest among Native Americans
  poor African Americans

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SLEEP POSITION

• Past lay face down to prevent choking in case
  they spit up
• Now lay babies on back, SIDS deaths have
  dramatically decreased
• British researchers putting babies on its side
  reduced risk, but not as much

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Declining Rates of SIDS
US rates have dropped dramatically as parents put
babies to sleep on backs.