Causes of Premature Birth and How to Treat it

Jakarta: According to research from the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 10 children are born prematurely. Every year an estimated 15 million children worldwide are born prematurely.

In Indonesia, the 2019 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) data shows that 84 percent of deaths in newborns in Indonesia are caused by premature birth.

The shorter the gestation period, the greater the risk of death and morbidity. Children born prematurely have a higher risk of being born with serious and long-term health problems.

Causes of premature birth

“The mechanism of premature occurrence is infection, but there are also others,” said Dr. dr. Rima Irwinda, Sp.OG(K), SPOG Doctor Fetomaternal Consultant, in the Nutrition Talk webinar with the theme “Challenges and Health Handling for Mothers and Children with Premature Birth” by Danone Specialized Nutrition Indonesia to commemorate World Prematurity Day, on Thursday, 17 November 2021 .

For example, there is bleeding due to placenta previa or the placenta is blocking the birth canal, the mother is under stress, or the uterus is very distended as in cases of multiple pregnancies. Or the amniotic fluid is too much.

“In mothers with diabetes mellitus cases or in cases of fetuses with abnormalities, there is a blockage in the gastrointestinal tract. So that the fetus in it is supposed to swallow the amniotic fluid so that the amniotic fluid is not too much, this cannot happen. And it causes the amniotic fluid to be more than normal,” added dr. rhyme.

Symptoms and risk factors

“Actually, the symptoms are the same as those of a mother who is about to give birth at term. There are contractions, there has been an opening of the cervix which is marked by spots, or accompanied by rupture of the membranes. However, the time of onset of these symptoms is different. If premature is less than 37 weeks, while at term is more than 37 weeks, “explained dr. rhyme.

According to dr. Rima, a risk factor that has the potential to cause premature birth can be categorized into 3 characteristics, namely maternal characteristics, nutritional characteristics, and pregnancy characteristics.

“The characteristics of the mother are related to age, smoking habits, and the psychological condition of the mother. Nutritional characteristics related to body mass index, weight gain during pregnancy, eating habits, coffee drinking habits, and consumption of supplementation. While the characteristics of pregnancy include a history of childbirth, a history of having twins, health problems during pregnancy, and a history of ultrasound examination, said dr. rhyme.

According to him, one of the efforts to reduce the risk of premature birth can be done by paying attention to nutritional needs through supplementation of Omega 3, Zinc, Vitamin D3, or multi-micronutrients.

Care for premature babies

Consultant Neonatology Pediatrician Dr. dr. Putri Maharani TM, Sp.A(K) explained, the main difficulty in premature cases is the care of prematurely born children.

Children born prematurely have difficulty adapting to life outside the womb due to the immaturity of their organ systems such as the lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, and digestive system.

“Efforts to minimize negative impacts during treatment are to keep Low Birth Weight Babies (LBW) in optimal conditions to grow and develop, one of which is by implementing developmental care,” said dr. Daughter.

The principles of developmental care include family involvement, minimizing stress, and optimizing breastfeeding, as the best nutrition for babies. Periodic monitoring, treatment, and special treatment are important factors for the growth and development of preterm children.

Early stimulation is one of the factors that influence the growth and development of newborns. Stimulation can stimulate connections between brain cells (synapses).

“Frequently providing stimuli can strengthen synaptic relationships. Variations in stimuli will form increasingly broad and complex relationships, thereby stimulating the formation of multiple intelligent people,” said dr. Putri.

According to him, the provision of stimulation must be balanced with early detection of growth and development by medical personnel and parents. This can help find deviations in child development early, so that interventions or action plans will be easier to carry out.
(FIR)

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