Premature Babies

Authors Avatar by pilsetal100 (student)

 One World Essay; Premature Babies

There are many factors that may lead to a woman having premature birth. It could be previous premature births, multiple miscarriages, multiple abortions, trauma, physical injury, twins, triplets, etc, having less than six months between two pregnancies, vitro fertilization, problematic uterus, cervix or placenta, too much stress, overweight before pregnancy, underweight before pregnancy, diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, drinking, taking illicit drugs, poor nutrition and infections in amniotic fluid or lower genital tract. Although there are many known risk factors that may lead to premature birth, many women who have premature births has no known risk factor, and for some unknown reason, black women has a higher chance of getting a miscarriage.

A baby grows from an embryo, which consists of a bundle of cells, to a fetus. The non-scientific term is just baby. The word baby is more commonly used when the fetus is at a stage where you can see its physical features using an ultra sound. A pregnancy lasts for about 40 weeks from the missed menstruation of the woman. At 3 weeks, the fertilized egg travels from the oviduct to the uterus. As it travels, it divides over and over again and by the time it reaches the uterus, it has become a mass of about 100 cells. Then it implants itself into the uterus lining. The 5th week of the pregnancy, is when most women start to notice that they're pregnant. The baby's nervous system, heart and brain has already started to form. If you go for an ultrasound, you can see a bulge where the heart is and a bumb for the head because the brain is developing. Other bumps and dimples show that the limbs, bones, muscles, ears and eyes are starting to develop as well. At 7 weeks, the embryo is about 10mm long from the head to the bottom. The face is slowly forming, the eyes are more obvious and has some color in them. It has got a mouth and a tongue. The feet and hands are beginning to form, with ridges where the fingers and toes will be. The heart, brain, lungs, kidneys, liver and guts are all starting to develop. In the 9th week of the pregnancy, the embryo has grown to about 22mm in length and at 12 weeks, the fetus is fully formed with limbs, organs, muscles, bones and sex organs. The fetus is already moving, but its is so weak that it cannot be felt by the mother yet. In the 14th week, the heart of the fetus can be heard using an ultrasound detector. The heartbeat is very fast, in fact, it is about twice the amount of heart beats per minute (Bpm) as a normal adult. The fetus is now about 85mm long and depending on the woman, the pregnancy now is beginning to show. At 15 weeks into the pregnancy, the blood vessels of the fetus can be seen and the skin has started to develop, but its very thin. Bones are starting to get harder and stronger. At the 20th week of pregnancy, the fetus I about 10 to 11 ounces in weight and 10 inches long. It is already starting to practice breathing and swallowing, and the skin is becoming more complex with the different layers. At 25 weeks, the fetus is about 1.5 pounds in weight, and 13.7 inches long from head to toe. The capillaries form and the many structures of the spine are also forming. In the 30th week of pregnancy, the fetus weighs about 2.9 pounds and is about 15.7 inches long. It is now moving around in the belly and the mother can feel it. Other people may feel this movement if they put their hand on the belly of the expectant mother. The amniotic fluid is starting to decrease as the baby is slowly taking up more space. At 35 weeks, the average fetus weighs at least 5.3 pounds and is about 18.2 inches in length. It is gaining fat to get it's body ready to keep warm outside the womb. The suckle reflexes are now developed. In the 40th week of pregnancy, all the physical appearances are fully formed and the baby is ready for the life outside the womb. Common wight is around 7.5 pounds and a length of about 20 to 21 inches.

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Babies born after the 37th week of pregnancy is called 'term' and has a high rate of survival, and on the other side, babies born before the 37th week of pregnancy, are called premature, but that does not necessarily mean that the baby wont survive and grow healthily. If a baby is born premature, it is usually put into neonatal care. There are four division of neonatal care; intense care division, severe care division, special care division, and transitional care division. The intense care division is where  babies with severely high underdevelopment dependency and severe medical conflicts are put. ...

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