Research Assessment

Subject: Neonatal Care

Sources:

Works Cited

Rastegari, Esther Csapo, and Teresa G. Odle. "Neonatal care." The Gale Encyclopedia of

Medicine, edited by Jacqueline L. Longe, 5th ed., Gale, 2015. Science in

Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CCAPMT556960345/SCIC?u=j043905005&xid=

204bd0e8. Accessed 13 Sept. 2017.

Rastegari, Esther Csapo, and Tish Davidson. "Neonatal jaundice." The Gale Encyclopedia of

Medicine, edited by Jacqueline L. Longe, 5th ed., Gale, 2015. Science in

Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/DROKUY525852497/SCIC?u=j043905005&xid=

761a49b0. Accessed 13 Sept. 2017.

Date: September 15, 2017

Neonatal care is vital in the first 24 hours of a newborns life. It is when the baby takes its

first breath, connects with its mother for the first time out of the womb, experiences a world

outside of the nutrient filled home the neonate had spent nine months in developing into the

complex being it now is. In these first minutes out of the womb the child must be dried and

warmed since the neonate has not adjusted to the new world that is not an encasing of amniotic

fluid that the newborn once grew in. To keep the baby warm and the body temperature stable,

after being dried off, a nurse will put a cap on top of the childs head and wrap it in warm

receiving blankets. I learned that within the neonates first breaths a series of changes occur

within the body, the lungs expand with the first breath and breathe in their own air. With this the

closing of the ductus arteriosus and the foramen ovale. The ductus arteriosus is a vessel
connecting the pulmonary artery and aorta in the fetus, and after the first breath has been taken

this will constrict and becomes a ligament. The foramen ovale is a fetal cardiac structure that

allows for the blood in both chambers to be mixed. When the baby is birthed the pressure rises

from the left atrium and closes off this opening. This allows for the blood to flow through the

heart from the right side to the lungs back to the heart and then to be distributed through the

body. The child is very alert within the first hour after birth and will gaze at the mother creating a

strong bond between the two.

Through reading this journal about a childs first moments of life I learned many things

that were unknown to me. I did not know all the steps to aiding a child in the beginning of its life

and all the sensitivities it has. There are many things that could create a chaotic situation in what

should be a smooth and calm delivery. Through this research I now know there are many things

that occur when the baby begins its life in a new world that is unlike the womb and changes the

way the body functions, now no longer having a connection to the woman that carried it through

the developing stages of its life.

Neonatal care and jaundice go hand in hand together as it is normal for a newborn to fall

ill to the disease in which the body breaks down bilirubin faster than it can excrete it. When this

occurs a yellow discoloring appears throughout the skin and sclera, which is the whites of the

eyes. There are two types of jaundice which are very different from each other, one can occur

within the first 24 to 72 hours of the childs life and the other occurring later than this time

period. When it first occurs after birth it is usually benign and is caused from insufficient or lack

of breast milk, and this causes decrease stool excretion. With limited bilirubin exiting the body

there is a buildup and the skin turns to a yellow color, as well as the whites of the eyes. The

second type is late-onset breastmilk jaundice which occurs in 10% to 30% of newborns who are
breastfed. This is when there is a substance in the breastmilk that affects the absorption of

bilirubin of a newborn. If this gets to be fatal this can lead to kernicterus, which is a condition in

which bilirubin deposits in the brain leading to permanent neurological damage and potentially

death.

In this article about newborn jaundice which can leave neonates in serious conditions that

are life altering, I learned many of the reasons as to why jaundice can occur. I had not previously

known that a baby could fall ill to this from insufficient breastfeeding.

After reading these journals I have attained new knowledge about newborns. I hope to

find an illness in which I can delve into and learn more about and potentially have my final

product be inspired from a newborn illness. In looking for something to base my final product on

I hope to learn about many illnesses I do not know about. There are many complexities to

newborns bodies and how their systems change when they transition from intrauterine to extra

uterine.