Complications of the newborn baby

Abstract

Most babies adapt well to extrauterine life and make good progress. However, there are some risks in the early days of life and the care given is directed at observing progress, spotting the early signs of trouble and acting to mitigate them before serious damage is done. Maternity support workers give most of the care healthy term babies receive after birth and they will often be the first person, after the mother, to notice when an infant is not progressing well. It is important that these key caregivers know the problems newborn babies might develop, and that they recognise when one is starting. The focus of this paper is potential complications of healthy term babies, rather than those babies with recognised health or care needs, such as preterm or low birthweight infants.