Preterm Child Development

Over the course of the semester we have covered a variety of interesting topics involving the psychology development of children. An area that was particularly intriguing to me was the prenatal development and birth. As a nursing major with an interest in neonatal intensive care the subject of preterm babies and early interventions was an area I wanted to explore more. As recently as 2015, babies born preterm in the United States was 1 out of every 10 births. An infant is considered preterm if born before thirty-seven weeks of pregnancy. The development of the fetus in the last month is not complete and the brain, lungs and liver are not fully developed (Preterm Birth, 2016). In the womb, the fetus’ brain develops the fastest at the end of

This is important because the effects for even late preterm births on the development of the brain are significant and long lasting. Other new interventions are being studied like message therapy and motor specific interventions. While the research has found that early intervention is reducing the developmental and health problem of preterm infants’ other factors contribute to long-term success. The long-term outcomes of these interventions are impacted by factors like poverty, poor caregiving and family support. These factors contribute to parent available, transportation for visits, and having siblings to care for. For instance, frequency of father visits seemed to be reduced when there are siblings at home. Shaffer and Kipp (124) stated, that when a pediatric nurse visited periodically with mothers at home and taught them how to read and respond to infant’s atypical behaviors the infants had caught up intellectually with normal-birth-weight peers by the age of four. Therefore, it is important for preterm babies and their caregivers to have access to the early intervention programs after they leave the NCIU. The research further suggests that maintaining the benefits of effective early interventions long-term may require continued support throughout grade school. So, nurses should play an important role in parent education, discharge planning and setting up further in home early intervention supports. As I think about being a NCIU nurse clearly their responsibilities to medically care for the infant is extended to fostering the interaction and interventions that support preterm infants and