Early term/ Term infants

Neonatal Resources, the Podcast

The second episode in our gestational age series, today we talk about early-term (near-term)/term infants in the NICU. These are babies born between 37 0/7-weeks and 40 6/7-weeks. We talk about:

• What on Earth brings these babies to the NICU?!
• Assessment findings and expectations for uncomplicated newborns
• What findings should make you really suspicious
• How recent practice changes have impacted the care these babies receive (baby-friendly, antibiotic stewardship, etc.)
• What normal newborn care looks like, including discharge testing

We also break down APGAR scoring…though the one thing we didn’t specifically say is that APGAR scores are determined at one minute of life, 5 minutes of life. Additional APGAR scores are given every 5 minutes for 20 minutes or until a score of 7 or better is achieved.
As promised, a better look at the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.

Bibliography

Health Resources and Services Administration. (2022, March). Critical congenital heart disease. Retrieved from Health Resources and Services Administration: newborn screening: https://newbornscreening.hrsa.gov/conditions/critical-congenital-heart-disease

Korang, S. K., Safi, S., Gluud, C., Lausten-Thomsen, U., & Jakobsen, J. C. (2019). Antibiotic regimens for neonatal sepsis - a protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis. Systematic Reviews, 8, Article number: 306. doi:10.1186/s13643-019-1207-1

Martin, M. G., Ewer, M. A., Gaviglio, M. L., Horn, R. E., Saarinen, M. A., Sontag, P. M., . . . Oster, M. M. (2020). Updated strategies for pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart disease. Pediatrics, e20191650. doi:10.1542/peds.2019-1650

National Organization for Rare Diseases, Inc. (2007). Aplasia cutis congenita. Retrieved from NORD Rare Diseases Database: https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/aplasia-cutis-congenita/

Neonatal early‐onset sepsis calculator recommended significantly less empiric antibiotic treatment than national guidelines. (2020, Dec). Acta Paediatrica, 2549-2551.

Ramasethu, J., & Kawakita, T. (2017, October). Antibiotic stewardship in perinatal and neonatal care. Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, 278-283. doi:10.1016/j.siny.2017.07.001

For definitions of terms used, visit Early-Term/Term Babies — Neonatal Resources, the Podcast (nicu-resources.com) and view our notes.

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