Assignment: Low Birth Weight Babies

Assignment: Low Birth Weight Babies

Assignment: Low Birth Weight Babies

Re: Topic 1 DQ 1
Low birth weights result in health complications such as respiratory problems, cerebral palsy, and poor growth and development. Such outcomes have a significant impact on the family and community. The family members will be worried about the outcome of their child and may have to incur substantial financial costs as they work to treat the child from the complications developed. In addition, the family may suffer emotional and psychological distress and stigmatization in some cases (Lakshmanan et al., 2017). On the other hand, the community health patterns are affected. Also, having many cases of stressed families due to the low child birthweight affects the economic productivity of a given community.

The disparities relative to the ethnic and cultural groups contribute to low birth weight babies. The most common causes of low birth weight include premature death and fetal growth restrictions. Such may be contributed to by inadequate access to healthcare services. Pregnant women should attend prenatal clinics where they are assessed for any pre-birth danger and given the appropriate patient education (Girma et al., 2019). Ethnic groups with limited access to healthcare services are most likely to be affected by the low childbirth weight issue. On the other hand, there are cultural practices that contribute to the health issue. Poor dietary intake and a sedentary lifestyle could also precipitate the risk.

March of Dimes is a community resource that works to end preventable maternal health risks and preterm births. Preterm birth cases are more vulnerable to infection and require exceptional support (Home, n.d.). The organization offers education to the affected families on overcoming the challenges associated with raising children born with very low birth weight.

References

Girma, S., Fikadu, T., Agdew, E., Haftu, D., Gedamu, G., Dewana, Z., & Getachew, B. (2019). Factors associated with low birth weight among newborns delivered at public health facilities of Nekemte town, west Ethiopia: A case-control study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-019-2372-x

Home. (n.d.). March of Dimes | Healthy Moms. Strong Babies. https://www.marchofdimes.org/index.aspx

Lakshmanan, A., Agni, M., Lieu, T., Fleegler, E., Kipke, M., Friedlich, P. S., McCormick, M. C., & Belfort, M. B. (2017). The impact of preterm birth <37 weeks on parents and families: A cross-sectional study 2 years after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-017-0602-3

Order an original top nursing paper specifically for you : Assignment: Low Birth Weight Babies

Describe the effect of extremely low birth weight babies on the family and community. Consider short-term and long-term impacts, socioeconomic implications, the need for ongoing care, and comorbidities associated with prematurity.

Explain how disparities relative to ethnic and cultural groups may contribute to low birth weight babies.

Identify one support service within your community to assist with preterm infants and their families and explain how the service adequately addresses the needs of the community, or a population in your community. Provide the link to the resource in your post.

Consider the following patient scenario:

A mother comes in with 9-month-old girl. The infant is 68.5cm in length (25th percentile per CDC growth chart), weighs 6.75kg (5th percentile per CDC growth chart), and has a head circumference of 43cm (25th percentile per CDC growth chart).

Describe the developmental markers a nurse should assess for a 9-month-old female infant. Discuss the recommendations you would give the mother. Explain why these recommendations are based on evidence-based practice.