The eight hurdles of prematurity

The first hurdle: respiratory hurdle. Premature infants lack PS, immature lung development, poor respiratory function, prone to apnea and respiratory failure, etc., so the first hurdle. The second hurdle: infection hurdle. Premature infants have poor immunity and barrier function, insufficient auto-cellular immunity and antibody synthesis, weak resistance, prone to sepsis, NEC, infectious pneumonia, etc. The third hurdle: feeding. Premature infants have weak sucking and swallowing ability, loose cardia sphincter, small stomach capacity, prone to choking, milk spillage, vomiting, aspiration pneumonia, etc. The fourth hurdle: jaundice hurdle. Premature infants with incomplete liver function, immature liver, poor bilirubin binding and excretion capacity, etc. are prone to increased jaundice, resulting in jaundice or bilirubin encephalopathy and other risks. The fifth hurdle: anemia hurdle. The smaller the weight of preterm infants, the sooner the hemoglobin, red blood cells and platelets begin to decrease after birth, prone to anemia and bleeding. The sixth hurdle: weight off. Due to poor digestive function, prone to diarrhea, bloating, etc., coupled with liver function, poor intestinal function and other factors prone to preterm infants slow weight growth, which leads to malnutrition, poor health, easy to infection. The seventh barrier: circulation barrier. Premature infants have a 12% higher incidence of symptomatic PDA and poor compensatory capacity of heart function, which can easily lead to heart failure, hypotension, lung and kidney function damage. The eighth hurdle: body temperature hurdle. Premature infants have a large body surface area, less subcutaneous fat, less fat and carbohydrate reserves, which can easily cause the body temperature does not rise. The sweat glands are not fully functional and the thermoregulatory center is poorly developed, which can easily lead to parcel fever, etc.