CREATESPACE Fundamental Care of Term and Late Preterm Newborns

This book is intended for nurses and physicians who seek basic information on newborn infants and their care in Level I nurseries. During the author's 40-year career as a neonatologist at two universities and two community hospitals, he taught nurses and resident physicians about the special characteristics of the newborn using illustrations to explain pertinent physiology and pathology. These drawings plus a glossary of key words and phrases are included in this book to facilitate an understanding of the textual material. When parents were given this same information, nurses found that parents had a clearer picture in mind, a better frame of reference, when they requested updated information over the phone, or at the bedside. Fundamental Care of Term and Late Preterm Newborns begins with a chapter on conception, embryogenesis, plus fetal development and behavior. The second chapter focuses on the obstetrical record, the infant’s past medical history. It is a source of information on inherited diseases that exist in the families, as well as data about the pregnancy, labor and delivery. The chapter includes material on the physiologic foundations of post-birth adaptation and modern resuscitation procedures. The third chapter deals with admission procedures and notations that are fairly standard in hospitals. The newborn history and physical examination are described in Chapter 4. The following six chapters describe common findings and problems in six anatomical regions, e.g., the head, chest, abdomen, etc. Chapter 11 addresses a variety of systemic problems, e.g., blood group incompatibilities, bilirubinemia, hypoglycemia, infants of diabetic mothers, septicemia, positive serologies, post-term infants, neonatal surgical emergencies, multiple births (twins, etc.), the Fetal Alcohol syndrome, drug withdrawal, and five chromosomal abnormalities. Late Preterm Infants, discussed in Chapter 12, are often admitted to newborn nurseries because they phenotypically resemble their older peers. However, their immature behavior signals their need for special care. Chapter 13 provides information on neonatal nutrition with an emphasis on breast feeding. Discharge preparations and follow up plans, suggestions on child care, early discharge criteria, state-mandated screening procedures, and information on fetal and neonatal loss are found in the final chapter. Standard references to books, journals and periodicals are included at the end of each chapter. Reference is made to web sites by the term, "Search". Internet sites contain an enormous amount of information on neonatal conditions. Illustrations are simplified so they can be memorized and drawn at the bedside when speaking to parents. Color photographs show common findings very clearly. Clinical pearls are scattered throughout the book. These are tidbits of pertinent clinical information handed down by mentors and colleagues, as well as those garnered from the author's clinical experiences,