Premature occurs before the natural or expected time.
Premature is a notion that has its etymological origin in the Latin word praematūrus . This is made up of two clearly differentiated parts: the prefix prae or pre , which is equivalent to “before” , and the adjective maturus , which is synonymous with “mature” .
This adjective is used to name something that occurs in advance of the time that was planned or that was natural.
For example: “The little one was born prematurely and is staying in an intensive care unit,” “It seems premature to talk about marriage,” “The club's supporters consider that the coach's dismissal was premature.”
Premature birth
We speak of premature birth when delivery occurs before the thirty-seventh week of gestation . A premature baby faces various health risks since, by not completing the usual nine months in the womb, it may suffer deficiencies in its formation.
The number of premature births does not usually exceed 12% in any country. In general, doctors cannot determine why delivery occurs early, although there are various causes that can affect it: a stressful situation, alcohol consumption, an infection or diabetes are some reasons that can cause delivery. premature.
A premature birth carries risks for the baby.
Special care
When a child is born prematurely, it is common for him to be admitted to the hospital where his mother gave birth. In this way, he will be placed in the incubator, where he will receive the necessary medical and nutritional care so that he develops as normally as possible and thus, as soon as possible, he can go home with his parents.
Specifically, when it goes to the family home it is because it is in perfect condition but that does not mean that it has to receive a series of special care. Specifically, pediatricians advise carrying out the following actions:
- Since he has less body fat, he needs to be covered more. Of course, you have to make sure it is not hot.
- It is recommended that you feed it with breast milk, since it will provide a multitude of benefits so that it can continue to grow healthy and strong.
- Your room should be at a temperature between 21º to 24º.
- Premature babies can sleep more than those who are not premature. But not only that, due to the lighting situation they have had in the incubator, it is possible that during the first days at home they need some light in the room to be able to fall asleep.
- It is necessary to change his diaper every four hours, even if it is clean.
Other uses of the term premature
The concept of premature, however, can be found in other contexts. If a soccer player signs a contract with a team that will bind him to the institution for three years, but is fired at the end of the first year, it will be said that his departure from the team was premature.
A young man who decides to become independent and leaves his parents' house but who, after a few months, decides to return due to financial problems, could recognize that the decision to move was premature since he did not yet have the financial strength necessary to maintain his own home.