Q: MY sister has just delivered her baby prematurely, at around seven months gestation. The baby is still in hospital. Can you tell me what major health problems premature babies suffer from? They tend to do pretty well these days, so there should be no real danger to the baby if he is in the hospital, is that correct? I am just a little worried. Dr Rose writes: Due to new drugs and advances in neonatal intensive care technology and expertise, premature babies have a higher survival rate than ever before.
In general, in developed countries, if a baby's gestational age is more than 26 weeks or weight is over 850 grams the survival rate is greater than 50 per cent. The survival rate increases dramatically with increasing gestational age and birth weight.
The various health problems encountered by premature babies include the inability to maintain their body temperature, difficulty with feeding, anaemia, increased susceptibility to infections, inability to maintain a constant blood sugar level and jaundice due to excessive bile pigment in the circulation, which the immature liver is incapable of breaking down.
The most common and potentially serious problem is respiratory difficulties experienced by premature babies due to immaturity of the lungs. This is called respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and can affect 50 per cent of very low birth-weight babies. RDS is treated with oxygen, steroids and synthetic surfactant to help the air sacs in the lungs to stay open. Other complications include cardiac defects, neurological involvement and intestinal tract problems.
Q: I just found out I am about six weeks pregnant. I feel good but am wondering whether it's safe for me to be walking strenuously, which I do with my dog every day on the Peak. Also, how about lifting grocery bags? I have been trying for a long time to get pregnant and I really don't want to take chances. Is there any way my baby can be hurt. My husband thinks I am being over-cautious. My doctor tells me to listen to my husband. What do you recommend? Dr Rose writes: The medical profession used to view pregnancy as an abnormal state and recommend minimal activity for pregnant ladies, including bed rest during the third trimester, and avoiding any exercising or lifting. The rationale behind this cautious attitude was the fear of decreasing circulation and nutrients essential for the foetus while the mother was exercising, as the blood may be diverted from the placenta to the skeletal muscles. This was thought to result in smaller sized babies.
Today we have come to realise that maternal exercise is good for both mother and baby. While it is true that during exercising, there is diversion of blood flow away from the placenta, this is only a temporary phenomenon and the body compensates by delivering extra blood flow and nutrients to the baby afterwards.
