After birth, the baby immediately falls into completely new conditions for him. The temperature here is much lower than the intrauterine one, a lot of visual, tactile, sound and other irritants appear. He immediately needs to readjust to another way of eating and breathing. This period is accompanied by colossal changes in all organs and systems of a small organism and is characterized by specific transitional states. They are physiological, characteristic of only born children, and are not repeated in later life. But such conditions border on the pathological reactions of the body. With a combination of adverse conditions, they can turn into a disease.
Transition states
Transient physiological conditions of newborns arise immediately from the moment of birth and soon disappear without a trace. These are natural processes for babies. They are called borderline or transitional states because they appear on the border of two stages of a child’s life (intrauterine and extrauterine). Under certain circumstances, they can turn into a pathology. The transition of the physiological state of the newborn into a pathological one can occur due to prematurity of the baby, difficult birth, unfavorable course of pregnancy, stress after birth.
Neonatologists are involved in the observation and treatment of newborn babies.
There are a lot of physiological transitional states of newborns, since each system of its small organism adapts. In addition, not all physiological conditions in a baby necessarily appear. Many of them proceed unnoticed.
Let us dwell in more detail on the noticeable, obvious physiological conditions of newborns.
Body mass
On the first day, newborns lose weight. This is a physiological or natural process that is observed in all newborns, regardless of the mass with which it was born.
The main reason is that in the first days of life, the baby's body loses a huge amount of water and uses the nutrients accumulated in the womb.
Normally, such a loss should not exceed 7-8% of the original weight. By about 10 days of life, the child restores its original mass, after which its weight regularly increases, which is an indicator of the proper development of the body and its growth.
For faster adaptation of the baby, he needs to organize an adequate thermal regime, good care, proper feeding. If the baby has lost more than 10% of its original body weight and has not recovered after two weeks, it should be shown to a pediatrician.
If the child does not lose weight - you should pay attention to this and show the baby to the doctor. It is possible that fluid cannot be excreted from the body, which indicates a pathology of the kidneys.
Heat exchange
The physiological transitional states of newborns include a violation of heat metabolism, when a child's body temperature slightly decreases or rises. In newborns, thermoregulation processes are still imperfect. Crumbs cannot keep body temperature constant. They are very sensitive to any temperature changes in the environment. That is, their body reacts to any temperature fluctuations on the street or in the room. They quickly overheat or overcool, since their skin is rich in blood vessels and poor in sweat glands. It is very important to observe the temperature regime in the children's room, to protect the baby from overheating or drafts. The optimum temperature in the children's room should be 23 º.
Skin integument
The physiological conditions of the newborn include changes in the skin. This is noted in almost all infants. The most common redness of the skin, which appears after removal of the original lubrication. Everything disappears on its own in a week.
Many children have peeling of the skin. This occurs on the 3rd-6th day. Most often it manifests itself on the abdomen, limbs, chest. Particularly strong peeling in transferred babies. This condition does not require treatment. After bathing, skin should be lubricated with sterile oil.
Often, toxic erythema manifests itself in babies. It is a rash with yellow-gray nodules. It is located around the joints on the limbs or on the chest. In a week, everything goes away.
Hormonal crisis
One of the physiological conditions of newborns, which often scares parents, is hormonal or sexual crisis. It is most often observed in girls. In the first two weeks after birth, the genitals greatly increase in size. In addition, the mammary glands swell, a liquid similar to milk can be released from the nipples. These phenomena are associated with the fact that immediately after birth, the baby's body contains maternal hormones. They affect the genitals and mammary glands of the baby. This reaction of a small organism will pass without a trace by the end of the month. As a rule, this condition does not require treatment. If the child has become restless, he has a body temperature, you should immediately consult a pediatrician. You can’t try to squeeze out fluid from the mammary glands - this will cause pain to the child and lead to mastitis.
In addition, parents should be aware that girls in the first days of life have copious discharge from the genital tract, they can be of different colors, often bloody. This condition does not require treatment, pass after about a month. Only if the discharge has an unpleasant odor and purulent color, the girl should be shown to a pediatric gynecologist.
Intestines
The physiological state of newborns in pediatrics is considered dysbiosis. The intestinal mucosa is colonized by bacteria. Moreover, it is populated not only by positive microorganisms, but also by pathogenic microflora. Dysbacteriosis is the physiological state of the baby, but in some circumstances it can cause a serious illness.
In the middle of the first week of life, the baby has a stool disorder. The reason for this phenomenon is the transition to a new way of eating. First, meconium, the original feces, leaves him, on the 4th - 5th day a transitional stool appears, which is characterized by a heterogeneous consistency and color (mucus, lumps, yellow-green color).
By the end of the first week, the stool is usually set and resembles a yellowish gruel.
urinary system
The urinary organs also adapt to new conditions. They adapt to work under conditions of hormonal changes and to the loss of moisture. Often the physiological state of newborns develops as uric acid kidney infarction, which manifests itself in the form of yellow-brown urine. This is due to the deposition in the kidneys of crystals of uric acid salts and metabolic disorders in a small body. If the color of the urine does not return to normal by the end of the second week, consult a doctor.
In the very first hours of life, the absence or secretion of a small amount of urine is observed. This is characteristic of all newborns. As a rule, on the second day, urination is improving.
Umbilical wound
Usually, the umbilical stump disappears on the 4th day after birth, and an umbilical wound forms in its place. In order to prevent its infection, such measures should be carried out: treat the wound twice a day with hydrogen peroxide and brilliant green. After about 10 to 12 days, the wound will begin to heal and treatment can be stopped.
Physiological jaundice
About 2-3 days after birth, the baby's skin may acquire a yellowish tint. This physiological borderline condition of newborns is observed in approximately 70% of children. It is due to the fact that some enzymes do not work at full strength and bilirubin accumulates in the body, which stains the skin. At the same time, the urine and stool of the baby retain the usual color. As a rule, jaundice fades away by the 14th day of life of the crumbs, it does not require treatment. But if the child is very thin, sluggish, passive, you should immediately contact a pediatrician, as this is not characteristic of the special physiological state of newborns, called primal jaundice.
Signs that indicate liver dysfunction:
- The appearance of jaundice immediately after birth.
- The spread of yellowness on the lower legs, hands and feet.
- Yellowness lasts more than 2 weeks.
- Discolored stool.
- Refusal of food.
- Anxiety while feeding.
- Shrill scream.
- Swelling.
- Fever and trembling.
- Weakness and lethargy of the child.
A high level of bilirubin in the baby's blood can adversely affect the development of the nervous system. Therefore, in the presence of such indicators, the child is treated.
Immunity
The baby in the first months of life is very vulnerable in terms of the development of inflammatory processes. His immunity is not yet developed. He was in sterile conditions in the womb, and after birth, his body immediately underwent the colonization of bacterial microflora from the environment. That is why in the first days of life, due to the unformed natural protective reaction of the skin and mucous membranes, a physiological state of a newborn baby such as immunodeficiency arises. It is especially pronounced in premature and lightweight babies. The duration of this condition can be up to a month or more. It is necessary to organize the right care for the baby, the purity of everything that surrounds him.
To strengthen the child’s immunity, you should often air the room, do wet cleaning in the nursery every day, walk in the fresh air.
It should also be done before bathing to do air baths and light massage.
Instead of a conclusion
Childbirth is a difficult and responsible period not only in a woman’s life, but also in her newborn baby. This is very stressful for both. Environmental changes lead to the response of the body crumbs, which manifest themselves in the form of transitional states. Pediatricians distinguish several of these reactions that occur in infants in the first days of life. As a rule, they do not require treatment and after a while pass on their own.
But such conditions are called borderline, because they can easily become pathological. It is for this reason that a pediatrician and a nurse regularly examine a baby in the first month of life.
Parents should not worry about the occurrence of a particular physiological state in the baby. In 98% of cases they are absolutely safe and do not require medical intervention.