Assessment of the risk factors for premature births and the role of nurses in the process of premature care

The existing trend towards increasing of premature birth proposes the necessity of studying the specific features of preterm care. The purpose of the study is to identify the factors contributing to premature birth; to improve the quality of care for premature babies by identifying the role of the nurse and the factors that contribute to nursing. The results of a questionnaire survey of 105 mothers who were in the department of pathology of newborns and infants were analysed. According to mothers’ data, the following factors influenced the onset of premature birth: stress - 78 (74,28%), abortion - 67 (63,81%), trauma - 34 (32,38%), infectious diseases - 25 (23,81%), age over 40 - 23 (21,9%). It should be noted that more than half (61/58,10%) of women indicated a combination of two or three adverse factors. The majority of women (67/64%) had an abortion before giving birth to a premature baby: 33 of them (31,43%) had 1 abortion, 17 (16,19%) - 2 abortions and 17 (16,19%) - 3 or more abortions. 38 (36,19%) women have never had abortions. There is a certain dependence between the baby’s weight and the history of abortions. Among the women who had no history of abortion, 24 (23%) gave birth to children with low body weight (LBW, birth weight 1500-2500 g), 14(13%) babies had extremely low body weight (ELBW, birth weight 500-999 g) and very low body weight (VLBW, birth weight 1000-1499 g). Among the women who had 1 or more abortions in their lives, 33 (31,43%) gave birth to premature babies with LBW, 34 (32,38%) with VLBW and ELBW. One of the functions of nursing staff is training women to care for premature babies. Only 67 (63,81%) mothers knew about such method of nursing as the “Kangaroo” method. They indicated their relatives and friends as a source of information, not medical staff. The remaining 38 (36%) of the respondents had not heard of it. Moreover, only 21 (20,0%) women used this method. In women who used the “Kangaroo” method, children were breastfed in 11 (52%) cases, in 8 (38%) - mixed feeding, 2 (10%) - artificial feeding. In women who did not use the “Kangaroo” method, exclusive breastfeeding retained only in 2 (2%) cases. 9 (11%) mothers had their children on a mixed diet, and in 73 (87%) women - on artificial feeding. Thereby, the main factors that had a negative impact on the course of pregnancy were stress, trauma, previous abortion, infections during pregnancy, and the mother’s age over 40 years. A history of abortion significantly increased the likelihood of having a premature baby with extremely low and very low body weight. The use of the “Kangaroo” method in the process of caring for a premature baby made it possible to preserve breastfeeding; information about this technique should be included in the conversation of nursing staff with mothers.