what birth defect causes babies to stop breathing

Premature babies and other very sick newborns face some of the aforementioned medical issues.

What are some mutual wellness conditions babies have in the NICU?

The conditions listed may non be relevant to your baby's situation. We encourage you to read only what you experience would be helpful to you and your child'south particular circumstances. To find out more than data about specific atmospheric condition, ask our health experts.

Additional information and support for families with babies in the NICU can be found at Share Your Story, the March of Dimes Web site for NICU families.

Premature babies are often anemic. This means that they practice not have enough cerise blood cells. Normally, the fetus stores iron during the latter months of pregnancy and uses it later birth to brand red blood cells. Infants built-in too soon may not have had enough time to store iron. Loss of blood from frequent claret tests also can contribute to anemia. Anemic infants may exist treated with dietary iron supplements, drugs that increase red blood cell production or, in some cases, a claret transfusion.

Premature babies often accept breathing issues because their lungs are not fully developed. Total-term babies as well can develop breathing issues due to complications of labor and commitment, birth defects and infections. An babe with breathing problems may exist given medicines, a mechanical ventilator to assist him breathe, or a combination of these ii treatments.

Apnea: Premature babies sometimes do non breathe regularly. A baby may accept a long breath, and then a brusk one, then pause for five to ten seconds before starting to exhale normally. This is called periodic breathing. Apnea is when a baby stops breathing for more than fifteen seconds. Apnea may be accompanied by a slow heart charge per unit called bradycardia. Babies in the NICU are constantly monitored for apnea and bradycardia (oft called "A'due south and B's").

Sensors on the baby'due south chest send information almost his breathing and eye rate to a machine located near the incubator. If a baby stops breathing, an alarm volition begin beeping. A nurse will stimulate the infant to start breathing past patting him or touching the soles of his feet. The neonatologist might consider giving the baby medicine or using equipment, such as C-PAP (continuous positive airway pressure; delivery of air to a baby's lungs through either small-scale tubes in the babe's nose or through a tube inserted into the windpipe).

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD): This chronic lung disease is most mutual in premature babies who take been treated for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) (run across below). Babies with RDS accept immature lungs. They sometimes need a mechanical ventilator to aid them breathe. Some babies treated for RDS may develop symptoms of BPD, including fluid in the lungs, scarring and lung damage.

Babies with BPD are treated with medications to help make breathing easier. They are slowly weaned from the mechanical ventilator. Their lungs usually better over the first two years of life. Simply some children develop a chronic lung disease resembling asthma. BPD also occasionally occurs in full-term newborns later on they have had pneumonia or other infections.

Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN): Babies with PPHN cannot breathe properly because they have high blood pressure in their lungs. At nascency, in response to the first minutes of breathing air, the blood vessels in the lungs normally relax and allow blood to period through them. This is how the blood picks up oxygen. In babies with PPHN, this response does not occur. This leads to a lack of oxygen in the blood, and sometimes to other complications including brain damage. Babies with PPHN often have birth defects (such equally center defects) or have suffered from birth complications.

Babies with PPHN often need a mechanical ventilator to help them exhale. They may exist given a gas chosen nitric oxide through a tube in the windpipe. This treatment may help the claret vessels in the lungs to relax and meliorate breathing.

Pneumonia: This lung infection is common in premature and other sick newborns. A baby's doctors may suspect pneumonia if the infant has difficulty animate, if her rate of breathing changes, or if the babe has an increased number of apnea episodes.

The md will listen to the babe's lungs with a stethoscope and then exercise an Ten-ray to see if in that location is excess fluid in the lungs. Sometimes the doctor may insert a tube into the lungs to take a sample of the lung fluid. The fluid is so tested to see what blazon of bacterium or virus is causing the infection, then that the dr. can choose the most effective drug to care for it. Babies with pneumonia are generally treated with antibiotics. They besides may need boosted oxygen until the infection clears up.

Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS): Babies born before 34 weeks of pregnancy often develop this serious breathing trouble. Babies with RDS exercise not accept enough surfactant, which keeps the small air sacs in the lungs from collapsing. Treatment with surfactant helps affected babies breathe more easily.

Babies with RDS also may receive a treatment chosen C-PAP (continuous positive airway pressure). The air may exist delivered through small tubes in the infant'southward nose, or through a tube that has been inserted into his windpipe. As with surfactant handling, C-PAP helps keep pocket-size air sacs from collapsing. C-PAP helps your baby breathe, simply does not exhale for him. The sickest babies may temporarily need the help of a mechanical ventilator to exhale for them while their lungs recover.

These heart defects are present at nascency. They originate in the early part of pregnancy when the middle is forming.

Bradycardia: Premature babies sometimes practice not breathe regularly. Interrupted breathing, also called apnea, can cause Bradycardia. Bradycardia is an unhealthy, deadening heart charge per unit. NICU staff call these conditions A's and B's: apnea and bradycardia. Treatments include medicines and breathing support.

Coarctation of the aorta: The aorta is the large artery that sends claret from the heart to the remainder of the body. In this condition, the aorta may be also narrow for the blood to flow evenly. A surgeon can cut away the narrow role and run up the open up ends together, replace the constricted department with man-made material, or patch it with part of a blood vessel taken from elsewhere in the torso. Sometimes, this narrowed area tin be widened by inflating a airship on the tip of a catheter inserted through an artery.

Heart valve abnormalities: Some babies are built-in with heart valves that are narrowed, closed or blocked and prevent blood from flowing smoothly. Some babies may require placement of a shunt (artificial graft) to let claret to bypass the blockage until the infant is large enough to accept the valve repaired or replaced.

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA): PDA is the most common heart problem in premature babies. Before nascence, much of a fetus's blood goes through a passageway (ductus arteriosus) from 1 blood vessel to another, instead of through the lungs, because the lungs are not notwithstanding in use. This passageway should close soon later birth, so the claret can take the normal route from heart to lungs and dorsum. If it doesn't close, blood doesn't flow correctly. In some cases, medicine can help close the passageway. If that doesn't work, surgery can also close it.

Septal defects: A septal defect refers to a hole in the wall (septum) that divides the two upper or lower chambers of the heart. Because of this pigsty, the blood cannot circulate as it should, and the heart has to work extra difficult. A surgeon can close the pigsty by sewing or patching information technology. Modest holes may heal by themselves and not need repair at all.

Tetralogy of Fallot: In this status, a combination of four heart defects keeps some blood from getting to the lungs. Equally a upshot, the baby has episodes of cyanosis (the peel looks blue due to lack of oxygen) and may grow poorly. Surgery is washed to fix this circuitous center defect.

Transposition of the great arteries: Here, the positions of the 2 major arteries leaving the center are reversed. Each artery arises from the incorrect pumping chamber. Surgery is done to correct the position of the arteries.

Experts hold that breast milk provides many wonderful and vital health benefits for newborns, especially premature or sick babies. And it is something merely a mom can give her baby. A baby needs expert nutrition to abound and become stronger. But she may demand to be fed a dissimilar way for a while, before she is set for breast or bottle.

Babies who are very small or sick are oft fed intravenously (through a vein). A tiny needle is placed in a vein in the baby's mitt, pes, scalp or bellybutton. She volition receive sugar (glucose) and essential nutrients through the vein. Equally soon as she is strong enough, the baby will be fed chest milk or formula through a tube that is placed through the nose or mouth into the stomach or intestines. This is chosen gavage feeding.

In gavage feeding, the tube may be left in place or inserted at each feeding. Inserting the tube should not bother the infant too much because babies this small generally practice non gag. When the baby can suck and eat effectively, gavage feedings will be stopped, and the baby will be able to chest or bottle-feed.

Many babies in NICUs first trophic (minimal) feeds shortly after birth. This is done to stimulate the baby'due south intestine until the baby is stiff enough to tolerate larger feedings.

Hypoglycemia is low blood sugar (glucose). It is ordinarily diagnosed in a babe before long after birth. Babies born to mothers with diabetes have their glucose levels checked regularly to assess for hypoglycemia. Early feeding and an intravenous glucose solution aid to preclude and treat hypoglycemia.

A baby with this condition grows more slowly than usual in utero, and is smaller than normal for his gestational historic period at birth. IUGR is usually diagnosed during pregnancy through an ultrasound. It normally is due to fetal or maternal complications. Upon admission to the NICU, babies are tested to decide possible causes, although this can't ever exist determined.

IVH refers to bleeding in the encephalon and is most common in the smallest premature babies (those weighing less than iii i/3 pounds). The bleeds unremarkably occur in the first four days of life. Bleeding more often than not occurs near the fluid-filled spaces (ventricles) in the center of the brain. An ultrasound exam tin can evidence whether a baby has had a brain bleed and how severe it is.

Brain bleeds usually are given a number from 1 to four, with four existence the most severe. Nearly brain bleeds are mild (grades 1 and 2) and resolve themselves with no or few lasting problems. More severe bleeds can cause difficulties for the baby during the hospitalization and possible problems in the time to come. Some will require careful monitoring of the baby'southward development throughout infancy and childhood.

Babies with jaundice have a xanthous color to their pare and optics. Jaundice occurs when the liver is too immature or ill to remove a waste product called bilirubin from the blood. Bilirubin is formed when one-time cerise claret cells suspension downwardly. Jaundice is particularly mutual in premature babies and in babies who have blood type incompatibilities with their mothers (such equally Rh disease, ABO incompatibility or G6PD disease).

Jaundice itself does non usually crusade harm to a baby. But if the bilirubin level gets likewise high, it tin cause more than serious problems. For this reason, the baby'southward bilirubin level is checked frequently. If it gets too high, he is treated with special blue lights (phototherapy) that aid the body pause downwardly and eliminate bilirubin.

Occasionally, a baby will need a special blazon of blood transfusion called an exchange transfusion to reduce very high bilirubin levels. In this process, some of the baby'southward blood is removed and replaced with blood from a donor.

Babies who are born too minor and too shortly often take trouble controlling their body temperature. Different healthy, full-term babies, they don't have enough torso fatty to foreclose the loss of oestrus from their bodies. Babies in the NICU are placed in an incubator or warmer right after birth to aid control their temperature. A tiny thermometer taped to the baby'due south stomach senses her body temperature and regulates the heat in the incubator. A baby will grow faster if she maintains a normal body temperature (98.six degrees F.).

A status in which a baby is born with excessive birth weight, that is, 4,500 grams (9 pounds, 14 ounces) or more. This is commonly due to maternal diabetes and may require delivery by cesarean department. These babies are also monitored for hypoglycemia.

This potentially dangerous intestinal problem about commonly affects premature babies. The bowel may become damaged when its blood supply is decreased. Bacteria that are normally present in the bowel invade the damaged area, causing more harm. Babies with NEC develop feeding issues, abdominal swelling and other complications. If tests evidence that a baby has NEC, he will exist fed intravenously while his bowel heals. Sometimes damaged sections of intestine must exist surgically removed.

ROP is an aberrant growth of blood vessels in the eye. It occurs virtually frequently in babies born before xxx weeks of pregnancy. ROP can lead to haemorrhage and scarring that tin can impairment the eye's retina (the lining at the rear of the center that relays messages to the brain). This tin can consequence in vision loss. An ophthalmologist (heart md) will examine the baby's eyes for signs of ROP.

Most mild cases heal without treatment, with little or no vision loss. In more than astringent cases, the ophthalmologist may perform laser therapy or do a procedure called cryotherapy (freezing) to eliminate aberrant claret vessels and scars. Both treatments assist protect the retina.

Some babies are admitted to the NICU to determine if they take this potentially unsafe infection of the bloodstream. The infection is caused past a germ which the baby has had difficulty fighting off. Certain lab tests, cultures, and X-rays tin aid diagnose this condition. These tests may be recommended if your baby has symptoms such as temperature instability, loftier or low blood carbohydrate levels, breathing problems or low blood force per unit area. The condition is treated with antibiotics, and the baby is monitored closely for an improvement in symptoms.

Last reviewed: Baronial, 2014

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Source: https://www.marchofdimes.org/complications/common-conditions-treated-in-the-nicu.aspx

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