You may be aware of the fact that women sometimes experience trouble or complications during childbirth. However, you might not know newborn babies can also experience various illnesses or medical conditions. Some medical conditions in newborn babies even go through extreme medical conditions where they have to be placed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
It’s important to be aware of the medical conditions newborn babies experience, their symptoms, and how to move forward with treatments because some medical conditions only start to reveal themselves once you’ve taken your baby home.
In This Article
Possible Newborn Conditions
Medical professionals can easily assess for medical conditions in hospitals, but once you leave a hospital, the responsibility may fall on you. The following is an exploration of some common medical conditions in newborn babies:
1. Blue Baby Disease
A blue baby is a condition where a newborn has mildly blue hands and feet. It’s completely natural for babies hands and feet to turn this way, particularly when they’re cold. However, as soon as they encounter warmth, they should begin to return to a normal pink. The same goes when their lips, tongue, and face are a bit blue or purple when they’re crying intensely. When they calm down, their color should return to normal.
Blue baby disease reveals itself when the blue or purple color of babies is persistent. This could indicate their lungs or heart isn’t functioning well. The problem with these organs may be due to the baby’s blood not receiving sufficient oxygen. When you sense a case of a blue baby disease in your child, the safest option is to contact a family medicine doctor or pediatrician and seek medical attention as soon as you can.
2. Distension in the Abdomen
It’s not an unusual thing for newborn babies to have stomachs or bellies sticking out, especially after they’ve just had a load of milk. However, there are always periods between feeding times when their belly should feel soft. This is why it’s important to check for any irregularities in their stomach.
If your baby’s abdomen feels relatively hard and swollen, it might be due to minimal bowel movement for more than two days. Also, if there’s vomiting at times, your baby may have abdominal distension.
In this case, the first thing to do should be to visit a doctor to have a clear assessment of the situation. Distension is usually caused by problems with gas or constipation. But in more serious cases, it could reveal an intense intestinal issue.
3. Coughing
Newborn babies shouldn’t be experiencing unprovoked coughing, and such an occurrence could be something to worry about. When babies breastfeed, they tend to drink fast and end up coughing. This coughing is normal as it is a response to the strong force of the breastmilk or the fast intake.
If your newborn baby is coughing quite often and persistently experiencing gagging, then you may want to visit a doctor or give your child some cough mixture. Try not to take coughing lightly because if it’s severe and persistent, it might be an indication of issues with the lungs or digestive tract.
Although there are guides on taking care of babies, some illnesses are extensive and require in-person professional help. If a recurring cough is left untreated, the consequences may manifest over time.
4. Injuries During Birth
Childbirth isn’t an easy thing to undergo, and various complications could arise that doctors have no control over. Due to this, a baby could be born with injuries. Some women experience long and tedious labor periods and a baby may get injured during the process. Babies which are large may also experience some birth injuries.
Many of the injuries newborns acquire during birth heal over time and they can manage to recover, but others tend to persist or remain. Injuries such as broken collarbones may heal much quicker, but internal injuries are harder to treat at home and require a great deal of intervention by a pediatrician.
Another prominent birth injury that’s experienced by newborns is muscle weakness. During labor, there are nerves attached to the muscle of a baby and they often get stretched or receive pressure. This stretching and pressure could cause weakness. There are many ways to promote healing when it comes to birth injuries, but the safest option would be to contact your pediatrician and seek advice and treatment.
Newborns Have Medical Conditions
Once you’re familiar with various conditions, you may be able to assess symptoms and explore treatments. These medical conditions are common and being aware of them is the first step in being cautious during childbirth.
