What is Premature Birth?
Premature birth is a birth that takes place more than three weeks before the baby’s estimated due date. In other words, premature birth is one that occurs before the start of the 37th week of pregnancy. Premature babies, especially those born very early, often have a medical complications. While not all premature babies experience complications, being born too early can cause short-term and long-term health problems. Typically, complications of prematurity vary.
Classification-Depending on how early a baby is born, he or she may be: Late preterm, Moderately preterm, Very preterm, Extremely preterm.
What does a Physiotherapist do?
A Physiotherapist is a professional who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders and disabilities that affect an infant’s ability to move properly and carry out daily life functions. Physiotherapist promotes strength, function, mobility and train an infant’s movements to improve their quality of life and prevent future problems.
Goals of Infant Physiotherapy
Since each infant’s needs will vary according to their problem, the physiotherapist will generally create individualized goals for each patient. For example, an infant has high muscle tone then a goal will be muscle kneading, and stretching of the muscles around the joints of arms and legs. On the other hand, if an infant has low muscle tone then a goal will be to strengthen the muscle around the joints of the arms and legs and proper positioning.
Types of goals, which may be centered around infants who have short-term and long-term medical conditions, may include:
- Correct position and movement patterns
- Developing age-appropriate milestones
- Managing and reducing pain
- Improving muscle strength and muscle endurance
- Overcoming limitations
When parents should seek for a physiotherapist?
If the infant has: –
- Delayed developmental milestones
- Favors one side of the body and/or tilting the head to one side only
- Poor posture control
- neuromuscular disorders
- high or low muscle tone
- Excessive or limited joint mobility
- Poor balance and coordination
If your child is showing the above-mentioned signs, trust your instincts, and discuss your concerns with a healthcare provider.
Mind institute can provide a wide range of treatments for physical issues.