| Popis: |
Newborn born between 340/7 and 366/7 gestation weeks is late preterm infant. Late preterm infants have more health problems and higher mortality than term infants. They have a higher risk of respiratory and neurodevelopmental difficulties than term infants, and require hospitalization more often. All of this has a significant impact not only on their health outcomes but also on the quality of life. Late preterm infants are exposed to an increased risk for the hyposurfactosis, transient tachypnea of the newborn and pneumonia than term infants. They are also more susceptible to viral respiratory infections, particularly respiratory syncytial virus. Late preterm infants are prone to hypoglycemia, hypothermia and hyperbilirubinemia. Hyperbilirubinemia is the most common reason for re-hospitalization in the first month of life. Difficulties in feeding or breastfeeding in late preterm infants may contribute to nonpromotion of body weight and delays in growth and development. Late preterm infants have a higher risk then term infants for the development of severe neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy and psychomotor retardation, but also for subtle neurological disorders, including learning and speech disorder, milder neuromotor disorders, coordination and attention disorders, socioemocional and behavioral difficulties. Late preterm infants often require additional support in education and there is an increased risk for poor school performance, which leads to further behavioral difficulties, thereby further impairing their quality of life. Therefore, it is a recommendation to strengthen supervision over this population of newborns. Timely recognition of the difficulties and an early intervention would reduce the long-term neurodevelopmental problems, and significantly improve the quality of life, not only of children but also of their families. |
