Problems with Home Care of Low-birth-weight Infants: “Use of Little Baby Handbook” to Support Low-birth-weight Infants and Families (Mothers)

Abstract

Low-birth-weight infants may have various health problems, such as physical growth delay or cerebral palsy, and their mothers may be very anxious or exhausted while rearing them at home. However, public services of the Japanese government for home care of these children and their families are insufficient both in quality and quantity and do not meet their needs. For that reason, 'Little Baby Handbook' was developed for the mothers of low-birth-weight infants. It complements the mother's knowledge and the insufficiency of public assistance for low-birth-weight infants by including information on the growth, development, and childcare of low-birth-weight infants.

Literature Review Study: Factors Affecting Caring Performance in Low Birth Weight (LBW) Infants

“…Low birth weight (LBW) accounts for 80% of global neonatal mortality (WHO and UNICEF, 2021). Many LBW deaths occur at the age of 0-28 days due to complex problems (Tomoyasu & Sobue, 2019) such as prematurity, respiratory failure, and hypothermia (Amelia et al, 2021). This causes babies born with LBW to be twice as likely to die compared to babies with normal birth weight (Alemu et al, 2019).…”