Psychology

Premature and low birth weight babies are born every day around the world.  There are many reasons as to why infants are born this way.  Doctors and parents have been working conjunctively together in order to find better means of prevention, in hospital care, and after care.  Major concerns are denoted when considering the health and development of these babies.  Services are being implemented to support the parents and provide early screenings for the infants in order to minimize future problems.
   
When a family gives birth to a low birth weight or premature baby, there are immediately many medical concerns.  Breathing is of ultimate concern because some premature babies are born with lungs that are not fully mature.  Some parents want to know if their child will be developmentally delayed or suffer from learning disabilities.  Doctors are primarily more focused on issues like long term hospitalization, epilepsy, brain bleeds, failure to thrive, sudden infant death syndrome, RSV, and apnea (Sears et al, 2004).   Some concerns do not present until the child is older.  These conditions can range from speech and language barriers, hearing problems, visual disturbances, and autism.  There is also the lingering risk of death associated with these small babies.  Some babies grow and thrive without any residual effects from a low birth weight or premature birth, but other babies suffer from many health problems throughout their lives.
 
Parents should be educated from the day that these infants are born as to what is needed and expected of them in their perspective roles.  If the parents are very young, then they might benefit from group therapy that offers much hand on demonstration for caring for such a small child.  Individual therapy would be beneficial to all parents in order to combat depression, anxiety, and general feelings of being overwhelmed.  Substance abuse counseling should be offered if there is a clear and present need.  Support groups would be helpful as they would provide a unique support system.  It should be stressed to the parents the importance of regular infant checkups and immunizations when taking into account the overall risks involved.  
   
As the infants do grow and mature, there are various avenues that should be explored educationally in order to aid the child to better develop.  Some states offer early intervention programs to entice and stimulate the childs mental alertness.  Head Start programs offer early screens for developmental delays and learning disabilities.  If there were a definite finding of any such delay, these programs are equipped to address these issues and help the child to overcome or find other ways of learning.  Speech and language programs are also available.
   
Various tests are used from the time of birth on these young infants.  The Apgar test is used to score the infant immediately following birth.  Every infant is given this test.  Blood work for blood counts, sugar diabetes, billirubin, and blood gasses are performed to access the infants overall organ function.  Doctors regularly perform physical exams as a means of early detection of a possible problem. Tests will be performed for years to come until it is certain that the child is on the right track.
   
Giving birth to, caring for, and raising a premature baby or low birth weight infant is a time consuming experience.  Much time is spent at the hospital, doctors offices, and labs.  Tests are performed at a rapid pace.  There are many breath-holding moments as every machine makes a different beep and buzz.  What may seem like the end of the world is really only a situational dilemma.  Support systems for parents and children have cropped up everywhere in order to meet the needs of everyone involved.  It is amazing how one small little life can suddenly have more purpose than everything else in the world.