This happens due to the poor growth of the baby within the womb. With a proper nutritive diet plan for the mother, during the gestation period, one can prevent Due to premature birth, babies can be born with low to very low body weight. this crisis.
What Is Premature Birth?
Birth before the 37th week of pregnancy is termed a premature birth.
An ideal gestation period (pregnancy period) is 280days or 40 weeks. Premature Babies are associated with several physical complications, such as immature lungs, difficulty in the regulation of body temperature, poor feeding capacity, and slow weight gain rate.
Premature babies require more intense care for a long duration of time. Regular medication must be followed, and sometimes in critical cases, a need for surgery also arises.
What is Prenatal Growth?
Prenatal development or prenatal growth includes the development of the embryo and the fetus inside the mother’s womb. During prenatal development, the firstly developed parts of the embryo are the gastrointestinal tract, spinal cord, heart, and brain. This development starts after one week of conception. The placenta develops in the embryonic stage and plays a vital role in pregnancy as it carries nutrients, oxygen, and water to the fetus.
Causes of Low Birth Weight in Infants
The reason for premature birth or a birth with low body weight is mainly the unhealthy lifestyle of a mother during the pregnancy. Each day during the gestation period should be followed with proper healthy guidance. Some major reasons for the low quality of prenatal development are listed below.
- Smoking
- Multiple pregnancies
- Drug and alcohol intake
- Poor nutritional status
- Birth defects
- Genetic disorders
- Unhealthy environmental factors
These unhealthy practices must be avoided by the expectant mother during and before the pregnancy.
Some maternal and fetal infections, such as cytomegalovirus, chicken pox, and rubella, or any medical problems in expectant mothers, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, uterine and cervix abnormalities, can also be the reasons for low birth weight deliveries.
Complications Resulted From Premature Birth
Infants with low birth weight face severe critical health complications throughout their life. They are usually more prone to diseases. Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease make them suffer in adult life. Other complications, such as cerebral palsy, vision and hearing difficulties, as well as low IQ level and lower brain cell growth have also been observed in premature babies.
Steps To Lower the Risk of Having a Low Birth Weight Baby
Early Prenatal Care
Prenatal care helps to detect medical problems at an early stage. During each prenatal visit mother’s blood pressure, weight, and the baby’s growth and heart rate are closely monitored.
Be serious about your lifestyle
Smoking and alcohol trigger the risk of having a premature birth. If you have any of these harmful addictions, stop them right now for your baby’s future! Some lifestyle adaptations like lowering the stress level and having a regular sleep cycle can have significant benefits on the growing fetus.
Control pre-existing medical illnesses
Mothers with pre-existing high blood pressure or type 2diabetes are prone to have low birth weight infants.
Weight gain is good during your pregnancy!
Pregnancy is not the time to be concerned about your figure! Maintaining a good nutritional balance, especially at the beginning of your pregnancy is very important. A little weight gain before you conceive is healthy for your baby’s health. You should increase your intake of folic acid. Folic acid deficiency is directly linked to premature births and low birth weight.
According to Dr. Prasenjit Kr. Roy, with developed medical treatments, the survival rates of critically low birth weight babies have improved significantly. Following a healthy lifestyle from the early stage of pregnancy, proper physical exercise and a nutritional diet plan can prevent the risk of having a premature baby. Dr. Roy advised leading a guided healthy lifestyle before you plan to conceive.
For more queries you can always consult with the best fertility expert in Siliguri.
