Comment 1

Disparities related to ethnic and cultural groups can be a big blow and affect low birth weight infants and preterm babies in matters relating to health. Ethnic groups which do not have English as the first language have a lot of problems in utilizing some medical resources. Failures to use these medical resources are likely to lead to medical complication from lack of prenatal care and education that is offered in the medical facilities

Many impacts are likely to face a family where an infant has been born prematurely or has a low birth rate. Apparently, the social, economic impact is one of the effects of preterm infants as it is very costly to treat an infant with that. It is estimated on average that a preterm born infant is likely to cost the family 51600USD (Patel et al. 2015). Moreover, there are also indirect costs such as loss of income during the period the child is undergoing treatment which is not included in the figure due to the difference in income of different families. Comorbidities associated with prematurity include the development of lung diseases which serve as a long-term effect of premature birth.

Association of Perinatal Networks brings out all the stakeholders that provide care to premature infants and children and comes up with ways to better the services in the health centers as well as the communities in which they reside.( http://www.reachcny.org/apn-premature-infant-health-network-weekly-preemie-memo-memo.cfm). The service adequately serves the need of this people as it can come up with final suggestion and discuss the best methods to use to ensure proper services to the infants and the family.

Comment 2

During the assessment I would ask the mother what
her feeding preference is. If she said she wanted to breastfeed, I would ask
her what her reservations about breastfeeding are. According to the Surgeon
General’s Call to Action, two of the main reasons mothers don’t breastfeed is
lack of knowledge and practices incorporated by the hospital that make
breastfeeding difficult. I would then in a supportive way educate her on the
benefits of breastfeeding. If at this point she still denies wanting to
breastfeed, I would support her decision. This mother and baby can still
benefit from skin to skin after birth, rooming in and delayed bathing. I would
educate this mother on the feeding cues to look for, how much formula the baby
should be taking at each feeding and how often the baby should be feeding.
Additional information this mother needs is how to properly prepare the formula
and when to discard it. Often mothers try to make the formula last longer by
diluting it. It is important for the mothers to understand this is not a safe,
healthy practice and the formula should be prepared according to the stated
instructions.

If after hearing the benefits the mother decides
she wants to breastfeed, I would educate her on skin to skin immediately after
birth, feeding positions, feeding cues, how often to breastfeed, how to hand
express, correct latch, avoiding artificial nipples, avoiding any formula
unless medically necessary and delayed bathing. I would help her as much as
needed during the first feed and whenever else she needed it. I would encourage
her to exclusively breastfeed if medically possible. I would educate her on how
to maintain lactation if she is separated from her baby. She would need to
learn proper storage of breastmilk and how long it can be stored. Finally, a
valuable resource is breastfeeding support once she leaves the hospital. There
are community support groups and other resources a mother can reach out to
if she needs help or encouragement.