MetaFilter posts tagged with nicu

"The statistics don't matter, until they happen to you."

zarq — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:53:15 -0800

"Premature babies born at the edge of viability force us to debate the most difficult questions in medicine and in life. After just 23 weeks of pregnancy, Kelley Benham found herself in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with a daughter born so early neonatologist doctors would call her a "micro preemie." New technologies can sometimes keep micro preemies alive, but many end up disabled, some catastrophically so. Whether to provide care to these infants is one of the fundamental controversies in neonatology. This is the story of how Benham and her husband, Tom French, made the difficult choice: Fight for the life of their micro preemie baby or let her go?" This is the first article in a three part "Special Report" series. The next installments will be published on Tuesday and next Friday. The paper has set up a special section with additional links, resources, an infographic, photos and video. Additional Reading Time Magazine / 2011: A 21-Week-Old Baby Survives and Doctors Ask, How Young is Too Young to Save? and Why Delaying Delivery by Just Two Weeks Boosts Baby’s Survival New York Times / 2012: In Preemies, Better Care Also Means Hard Choice Preemie Help: Facts and Figures: Preemie Outcomes by Gestational Age

World Prematurity Day

jasonhong — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:59:21 -0800

A typical full term pregnancy is 40 weeks. Premature babies are those born before 37 weeks. Worldwide, 13 million babies are born premature. In the United States, 1 in 8 babies are born prematurely. Prematurity can lead to a host of lifelong cognitive, respiratory, vision, and digestive problems. November 17 is World Prematurity Day, devoted to raising awareness of the problems of as well as prevention of pre-term births. On August 7, 1963, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born to President and Mrs. Kennedy about five and a half weeks early. The baby survived only 39 hours. Medical care for premature babies has advanced significantly since then. The youngest premature baby known to have survived is Amillia Taylor, born at 21 weeks and 6 days on October 25, 2006, weighing in at just 9 ounces. Although healthcare for premature babies has improved, the number of premature births in the United States has risen by 36% over the last 25 years. Premature birth is also the #1 cause of death of newborns in the United States. In 2006, about 19,000 babies died in their first month. Premature babies are often placed into Neonatal Intensive Care Units. NICUs have a wide array of specialized equipment for keeping preemies warm, for monitoring heart rates and respiratory rates, for helping preemies breathe, for managing intravenous lines into the baby, and for phototherapy to treat jaundice. Kangaroo care is also an increasingly popular way of helping preemies. Developed in response to the high death rate in preterm babies in Columbia as well as a lack of money for purchasing equipment, researchers found that babies held close to their mothers' bodies for periods of time not only survived, but thrived. For parents, having a premature baby can be difficult emotionally. It is common for parents to feel guilty, depressed, distanced from the baby, and at odds with the NICU staff. Some parents are diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder because of the ordeal (previously on MeFi). Social support by others who have faced the challenges of a NICU has been found to help reduce anxiety and depression. The March of Dimes also runs an online support site called shareyourstory.org to help parents of premature babies. Finally, there are a number of suggested steps for minimizing the chance of having premature births, including getting prenatal care, avoiding smoking and drinking of alcohol, and avoiding high levels of stress. Some new progesterone treatments may also help prevent pre-term births.

"I was raised by a single mom, and I turned out just fine."

pseudostrabismus — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:09:38 -0800

"It's going to be okay. I was raised by a single mom, and I turned out just fine." A young doctor in NYC writes a moving post about her observations in the neonatal intensive care unit.