Words you might hear when you have a prem baby

Words you might hear when you have a prem baby.

Having a baby early can be a huge shock and sometimes completely unexpected. Below is a list of words you may hear when you have a premature baby and what they mean.

Medical terminology can be scary when you don’t know what it means hopefully, this post and the links to more information will help alleviate some of that fear.

Neonatal Units

Depending on when your baby is born or how sick they are after birth will determine what level of care they require.

Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU).

Babies born after 32 weeks gestation, may be looked after in the special care baby unit. Here, they can monitor the baby’s breathing and/or heart rate, give oxygen, and treat low body temperature or low blood sugar. Help baby to feed, sometimes with a tube. Babies who become unwell after birth may also be looked after in the SCBU.

Local Neonatal Unit (LNU).

Babies born between 28 – 32 gestation, may be looked after in a local neonatal unit. Your baby may need a higher level of care from medical and nursing staff.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Babies born before 28 weeks or be very ill after birth. Not all hospitals have a NICU so your baby would be transferred to a hospital that has these facilities with space available.

Transitional Care.

You and your baby stay together while your baby receives the care they need. This could be in the postnatal ward or a room in the neonatal ward.

Other words you might hear when you have a premature baby.

Apgar score

Is a score between 0-10 based on five criteria. Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity and Respiration. Each of the 5 criteria is then given a score between 0-2. Each criteria score is added together to give the Apgar score. 7 and above is classed as normal, and below 7 is classed as low.

Bagging

A squeezable bag attached to a mask will be placed over the baby’s nose and mouth to help with breathing.

Chest drain

Air or fluid leaking from the lung will be removed by a tube, that is inserted through the chest into the space between the chest and lung.

Corrected age

The age your baby would be if born on their due date.

Extremely low birthweight

Used to describe babies born under 1000g.

Gestational age

The number of weeks pregnant when the baby is born. If birth happens at 28 weeks pregnant then the gestational age will be 28 weeks.

Head circumference

The measurement around the biggest part of a baby’s head.

Equipment you may see while in the hospital.

Incubator

A special bed covered in a plastic lid. Heat, humidity and oxygen will be controlled and monitored very closely.

Nasal cannula

A small tube is inserted into the nostrils to give the baby oxygen.

Pulse oximeter

A device on the hand or foot of the baby to measure oxygen saturation levels. You will see a red light to show the device is working.

Ventilation

Used when a baby needs help to normalise the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. This help is supplied by a machine until your baby can manage on their own.

I hope that you feel more confident about words you might hear when you have a prem baby. If you hear any terms or words that you don’t know while in the hospital, please ask the medical team who will be happy to explain and answer any questions you have.

For more information about having a premature baby in the hospital visit Tommy’s.

You can find a huge selection of premature baby clothing, at great prices here.