That's our topic of discussion during bed side teaching.
Today is a special BST session as it was conducted at the neonatal ward (the newborn infants ward). I just love stepping into that room and seeing all the newborn babies lying in their cots, wrapped in identical green clothers lying in neat rows, side by side. And each baby is just different! Some are big, some are small. Some are fat & chubby, others are thin and less chubby. Seeing them lying peacefully never fails to put a smile on one's face. Then this song comes to my mind : Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red & yellow, black & white, they are precious in His sight.. {indeed they are all truly precious}
And each and every one of them have different styles of sleeping and crying. My my, when one cries it triggers the one next to him/her and its a chain reaction *laughs* Our lecturer conducted a session on how to examine the newborn infant and it was interesting to denote that there are so many minute details that needs to be carefully looked for in each infant. Failure to do so may lead to a overlook of an important congenital disease.
And then...
We saw a baby borned with anencephaly. I've heard of it but it was my 1st time witnessing the baby live. It nearly broke my heart to see the infant. Anencephaly babies are born with an absence of a major part of the brain, skull and scalp. The worse part is that the baby usually does not survive within the next few hours or if not days. The baby was virtually lying and awaiting its death in the cot.
My heart goes out to the family members especially the mother. Praying that God'll give them the strength to carry on in this difficult time.
2 comments:
Recent studies have shown that the addition of folic acid to the diet of women of child-bearing age may significantly reduce, although not eliminate, the incidence of neural tube defects. Therefore, it is recommended that all women of child-bearing age consume 0.4 mg of folic acid daily, especially those attempting to conceive or who may possibly conceive, as this can reduce the risk to 0.03%. It is not advisable to wait until pregnancy has begun, since by the time a woman knows she is pregnant, the critical time for the formation of a neural tube defect has usually already passed. A physician may prescribe even higher dosages of folic acid (4 mg/day) for women who have had a previous pregnancy with a neural tube defect.
thanks John for that additional piece of information. Yes,that's true. Something as small as folic acid can make a big difference :)
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