Introduction
The happiness of an expectant woman is to conceive a healthy and normal baby after carrying a pregnancy for about nine months. She takes good care of herself to ensure nothing interferes with the pregnancy. However, not all women are lucky to carry their pregnancies until they give birth to healthy babies. Some miscarry when their pregnancies are in their first or second trimesters. Pre-term birth is the delivery of a child before it reaches the 37th week. This essay explores the causes, impacts, and other issues about pre-term births.
Pre-Term Births
Causes
Drug abuse
Smoking and alcoholism are the chief causes of pre-term births. Expectant women are not supposed to smoke or drink alcohol and other drugs that are not prescribed by midwives and other specialists. These drugs contain dangerous substances that interfere with the chemical balance and normal functioning of the human body. Secondhand smoke may cause pre-term births if an expectant woman is exposed to it for a long time.
Accidents
Expectant women are supposed to take good care of their unborn babies and themselves and avoid engaging in activities without consulting their doctors. They should avoid places or activities that may injure their unborn children or themselves. For instance, expectant women are not supposed to participate in demonstrations or activities that may involve violence. They should not fight or engage in physical activities that may injure them because this will affect the growth of their unborn babies.
Stress and Depression
The mental, emotional, and physical health of an expectant woman is paramount to the well-being of her unborn baby. Physical stress occurs when an expectant woman engages in activities that require a lot of energy. For instance, playing games and carrying heavy loads require a lot of energy that expectant women may not have. Emotional stress occurs when expectant women fear the outcome of their pregnancies or are confronted with family challenges like career, challenges, financial difficulties, and marriage instability. Depression is the inability to cope and move on after experiencing harrowing challenges in life. This issue affects the well-being of an expectant woman and her unborn child.
Implications
It is necessary to explain that premature babies usually have undeveloped organs. Their bodies may not function like those of normal ones because they are underdeveloped. They may experience breathing difficulties because their respiratory and gaseous systems are weak and undeveloped. The breathing problems may cause damage to the heart or lungs because of excess strain. In addition, they may experience feeding difficulties because their intestines and other parts of the digestive systems are weak. Vision and hearing impairments may also occur if a child is born prematurely. Moreover, cases of cerebral palsy are common in premature births, especially among women who use drugs. Stunted growth is another implication of pre-term births as the child’s body struggles to perform at its optimum despite being underdeveloped.
Diagnosis
Screening
The national center for biotechnology information defines screening as the process of evaluating the possibilities of the existence of a problem. Expectant women are supposed to attend pre-natal clinics and seek other medical services to monitor the progress of their pregnancies. Screening helps nurses and expectant women to know whether the unborn child is healthy or not. The use of ultrasound scans and x-ray machines helps expectant women to know the health of their pregnancies.
Assessment
The screening process provides information about the well being of an unborn baby. Assessment involves understanding and describing a problem to determine a diagnosis and develop specific treatment plans to correct the issue or reduce its severity. Assessment plans are developed from the studies conducted to identify the causes of premature births.
Speech and Language Delays
6 Months
A child is supposed to possess the following abilities at six months after birth. He should calm down and smile when somebody talks to him. This means that he recognizes the voice of people and pays attention to it. The baby should coo and make pleasure sounds when alone or with other family members. He should follow sounds with his eyes and pay attention to music and change of tone of other people’s voices. The child should babble, laugh, and gurgle when excited.
18 Months
The baby should know and follow simple commands and can answer some questions. He can ask simple questions and sing short choruses without assistance from other family members. The child can put together two or more words and seek the attention of other family members by crying if they ignore him. However, a child with speech and language delays may not ask simple questions and uses its finger or eyes to show what it wants.
24 Months
The child should have a word for almost everything and can freely ask about people, places, and events. He should use all consonant sounds without difficulties. However, a child with speech and language delays may not name any objects or people. His language may be understood by family members and close friends but not strangers.
Indicators of ADHD/ADD
Attention deficit hypersensitivity disorders (ADHD) and attention deficit disorder (ADD) have similar presentations and symptoms. The victim does not pay attention to instructions, and this explains why they perform poorly in class and other activities. They are easily distracted by irrelevant issues in the surrounding and disrupt normal activities to divert the attention of other people. Moreover, they cannot pay attention to a single task for more than 10 minutes and have a tendency of shifting from one activity to another without completing the previous one. Their work is usually disorganized and lacks important information because they are always in a hurry. They do not stick to a single conversation and keeps interrupting other speakers.
Dyslexia and Specific Learning Disabilities
Indicators
Dyslexia and specific learning disabilities are associated with pre-term births. They affect a child’s ability to grasp information about a specific subject. For instance, the child may not understand the application of arithmetic formulas to solve problems. Most pre-term babies have underdeveloped brains, and their cognitive abilities are poor. Therefore, they may have difficulties grasping concepts in various subjects, yet comprehend others easily.
Impacts
Specific Learning Disabilities and Dyslexia are the main causes of poor memory and comprehension skills. These conditions lower the esteem of individuals because they cannot compete with their age mates. Most people who suffer from these conditions take too long before they understand complex issues. These conditions are the major challenges that cause disparities in learning. They derail learning and make victims lag behind while their classmates proceed with other activities. Pre-term babies may not live normal lives because of the biological and psychological challenges they experience.