Wk2 Chapter 3 & 4 Learning Outcomes Flashcards
Identify the features of the scale most often used to
assess neonatal health.
The Apgar scale, which is administered immediately after birth,
assesses infants on five subtests: Appearance (colour), Pulse
(heart rate), Grimace (reflex irritability), Activity (muscle tone) and
Respiration (breathing)
Identify the neonatal classifications for low birth weight
and describe the consequences and major treatments.
Low-birth-weight neonates weigh less than 2,500 grams and very
low-birth-weight neonates weigh less than 1,500 grams; extremely
low-birth-weight babies weigh less than 1,000 grams. Low birth
weight is related to a variety of physical, cognitive and behavioural
problems, not only in infancy, but throughout life. Close physical
contact and infant massage can help ameliorate the problems.
Describe neonates’ patterns of waking and sleeping,
including how and why these patterns differ across cultures.
Neonates sleep an average of 16–17 hours a day (in segments of
a few hours each), about 50% of it in REM sleep. By 4 months old,
the typical infant sleeps for 14 of every 24 hours, including about 6
hours straight at night, and the proportion of REM sleep declines to
40%. These patterns may vary across cultures due to differences
in parenting practices, such as how much time mothers spend
holding their babies.
Describe the neonatal reflexes, including those that have
a functional purpose and those that do not.
There are 27 reflexes present at birth or shortly after, including
some related to early survival (such as sucking and rooting) and
others that have no apparent function (such as the Babkin reflex).
Describe the neonate’s sensory abilities with respect to
touch, taste and smel, hearing and sight.
Touch and taste develop prenataly to a large extent, and neonates’
abilities are similar to adults’. Neonates quickly begin to
discriminate smels after birth, showing a preference for the smel
of their mother’s breast. Hearing is also quite mature at birth,
although neonates hear high-pitched sounds better than other
sounds and their ability to localise sound does not mature until
about 1 year old. Sight is the least developed of the senses at
birth, but it reaches maturity by the end of the first year.
thick, ye lowish liquid produced by
mammalian mothers during the first days
fo lowing birth, extremely rich in protein and
antibodies that strengthen the baby’s immune
system
colostrum
Describe the cultural customs surrounding breastfeeding
across cultures and history.
In the human past, evidence indicates that in most cultures children
were fed breast milk as their primary food for 2–3 years. To ease
the burden of frequent feedings, the custom of wet nursing is a
widespread custom as old as recorded human history. Using animal
substitutes (cow’s or goat’s milk) also has a long history.
Identify the advantages conferred by breastfeeding and
where those advantages are largest.
Breastfeeding is associated with protection from disease in infancy
and better health in childhood and adulthood, healthy cognitive
development and reduced obesity. The advantages are especialy
pronounced in developing countries. Nevertheless, worldwide, only
about half of al infants are breastfed even for a short time.
Describe neonates’ types of crying and how crying
patterns and soothing methods vary across cultures.
Three distinct kinds of crying signals have been identified: fussing,
anger and pain. Crying frequency rises steadily beginning at 3
weeks of age and reaches a peak by the end of the second month,
then declines. This pattern is similar across cultures, but duration
and intensity of crying are lower in cultures where babies are held
or carried throughout much of the day and night.
Describe the extent to which human mothers ‘bond’ with
their neonates and the extent to which this claim has been
exaggerated.
Some doctors have claimed on the basis of animal studies that the
first few minutes and hours after birth are critical to mother–infant
‘bonding’. This has now been shown to be false, but the claims had
the beneficial effect of changing hospital policies to a low more
contact between mothers, fathers and neonates.
Describe the reasons for postnatal depression and its
consequences for children.
Many mothers experience mood fluctuations in the days folowing
birth as their hormones return to normal levels, but some mothers
experience an extended period of postnatal depression, as do
some fathers. The basis of postnatal depression appears to be a
combination of genetic vulnerability to depression and a social and
cultural context that does not provide enough social support.
Describe how the infant’s body changes in the first year
and explain the two basic principles of physical growth.
The physical developments of infancy include a tripling of weight
and growing 2.5 centimetres per month. The cephalocaudal
principle means that physical growth tends to begin at the top, with
the head, and then proceeds downwards to the rest of the body.
The proximodistal principle means that growth proceeds from the
middle of the body outward.
For most infants, the first tooth appears between 5 and 9 months
of age. Teething pain can be soothed with something to bite or
chew on, or something cold to drink or eat, or by using pain
medications.
The physical developments of infancy include a tripling of weight
and growing 2.5 centimetres per month. The cephalocaudal
principle means that physical growth tends to begin at the top, with
the head, and then proceeds downwards to the rest of the body.
The proximodistal principle means that growth proceeds from the
middle of the body outward.
For most infants, the first tooth appears between 5 and 9 months
of age. Teething pain can be soothed with something to bite or
chew on, or something cold to drink or eat, or by using pain
medications.
Identify the different parts of the brain and describe how
the brain changes in the first few years of life.
The brain is separated into two hemispheres connected by the
corpus ca losum, and each hemisphere has four lobes with distinct
functions. Brain development in infancy is concentrated in the
expansion of dendritic connections and myelination. Studies of
infants and children exposed to extreme deprivation indicate that
the brain is especia ly vulnerable in the first year of life.
Describe how infant sleep changes in the course of the
first year and evaluate the risk factors for SIDS, including the
research evidence regarding co-sleeping.
Sleep needs decline during the first year. SIDS is most common at
age 2–4 months. Sleeping on the back rather than the stomach
greatly reduces the risk of SIDS. In cultures where infants sleep
alongside their mothers on a firm surface, the risk of SIDS is very
low. Historica ly and worldwide today, mother–infant co-sleeping is
far more common than putting babies to sleep in a room of their
own.
Describe how infants’ nutritional needs change during the
first year of life and identify the reasons for and consequences of
malnutrition in infancy.
The best way to obtain good high-fat nutrition during infancy is
through breast milk. The timing of the introduction of solid food
varies among cultures, from the first weeks of life to sometime in
the second half of the first year. Malnutrition in infancy is usua ly
due mainly to the mothers not breastfeeding.
List the major causes and preventive methods of infant
mortality and describe some cultural approaches to protecting
infants.
Malnutrition is a common source of infant mortality, but the most
common source is diarrhoea. The cultural practices of secluding
infants in their early weeks, co-sleeping with them and constantly
carrying them developed out of long and painful human experience
with high infant mortality.
Describe the major changes during infancy in gross and
fine motor development.
Achievements in gross motor development in infancy include roling
over, crawling and standing. Cultural practices restricting or
encouraging gross motor development make a slight difference in
the timing of gross motor achievements, but little difference in the
long run. Reaching and grasping are two of the fine motor
milestones of the first year.
Describe when and how infants develop depth perception
and intermodal perception.
Increased adeptness at binocular vision around 3 months of age
enables infants to develop depth perception during the first year.
Infants also become better at intermodal perception or coordinating
their senses
