Adaptive Capabilities of Underweight Newborns and Development Features in their First Year of Life

Abstract

Introduction: The issue of caring underweight infants is vital today because of the relatively high mortality
rate. The perinatal death in full-term babies born with low birth weight is 3–8 times higher than in children
with normal weight and takes the second place in the structure of perinatal mortality after prematurity.
Moreover, the lack of a well-established concept for the management of such children in the first year of
life in the literature, make us to conduct additional studies in this sphere. In order to evaluate the adaptive
capabilities of children and monitor their physical development, growth curves and development of children
checked according to WHO standards.
Method: 281 newborns and 272 mothers were examined. Newborns were divided into 2 groups: group
1-83 premature infants with low body weight; group 2-103 full-term newborns with low body weight. The
control group consisted of 95 full-term newborns. Quantitative determination of human placental growth
factor (PlGF) was performed based on the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Correlation analysis and
statistical processing of the gained data were calculated on MS Excel - XP software and statistical analysis
of the results was carried out using method of variation statistics.
Results. 83 mothers had babies born prematurely with low body weight relative to gestational age (group 1);
in 102 mothers - full-term, but with low body weight (group 2). The control group consisted of 87 women
whose newborns were born on time (38.4 ± 6.3 weeks) and body weight corresponded to gestational age.
A high risk of birth with low body weight in pregnant women was observed with signs of fetal growth
retardation by ultrasound examination (OR = 11.58), with anemia (OR = 8.17), other malnutrition (OR =
5.75), placental insufficiency (OR = 5.46). Signs of perinatal cerebral hypoxic-ischemia of the 2nd degree
were noted in groups 1 and 2, respectively, in 73.5% and 66.0% of children.
Conclusion: Pregnant women who have proteinuria and preeclampsia are 3 times more likely to have
babies with low body weight compared to pregnant women with normal renal function and blood pressure.
Underweight preterm infants are born in severe asphyxia, with a severe degree of RDS, severe disorders
of the central nervous system; they require primary resuscitation measures more often, longer antibacterial
therapy.