When should I be discharged from the hospital for premature delivery at 31 weeks of pregnancy?

Premature birth at 31 weeks is quite harmful to the child, so as a parent, you must give your child comprehensive treatment in the hospital before he or she can be discharged. Therefore, there are many families with children who are born prematurely at 31 weeks. In order to ensure that their children's bodies receive effective treatment, they want to know when a premature baby born at 31 weeks should be discharged. In order for you to understand as soon as possible, please take a look at the following introduction.

Description of the condition and questions:

I am now more than 31 weeks pregnant, but recently there seem to be signs of premature birth. The contractions are quite frequent, and I feel pain in my lower abdomen in the middle of the night, but there is no bleeding. Now I can't sleep all night, and I am very worried that the baby will be born prematurely. I don't know if the baby will survive if it is born prematurely now.

Recommendation: Premature babies are more difficult to care for. If they are born at this time, they need to be placed in an incubator, mainly to prevent complications. It costs more money. The child's survival also needs to be combined with the child's maturity and the hospital's conditions and equipment. It is better to treat it actively. You need to take good care of the fetus now, don't move around, lie in bed and rest, or consider hospitalization to protect the fetus.

Suggestion: This premature baby is not fully developed in all aspects and is prone to illness. It is recommended that he be placed in an incubator in the hospital. When his physical condition improves, he will be given more nutrition and will gradually become like a normal child.

Recommendation: Premature babies born at 31 weeks of gestation need careful care, and whether they can be discharged from the hospital depends on the doctor.

Premature babies are those born before 37 weeks of gestational age. Small for gestational age refers to an infant whose birth weight is less than two standard deviations below the mean or 20% lower than the expected mean weight for the gestational age. If the baby weighs less than 2500 grams after 37 weeks of pregnancy, it is also considered small for gestational age, but is generally called a full-term low-birth-weight baby.

Premature infants need enhanced care because their tissues and organs are immature, their functions are incomplete, their living ability is poor, and their resistance is low.

The first thing to do after a premature baby is discharged from the hospital and goes home is to keep him warm. The room temperature for premature babies should generally be kept at 24~26 degrees, and the humidity should be kept at 55%~65%.

Secondly, since premature infants have low immune function and are susceptible to infection, we must actively prevent infection. People at home with respiratory, skin, or digestive tract infections should not enter the premature baby's room to prevent cross infection.

Breast milk is the food of choice for premature babies. Because breast milk contains protein, fat and sugar in appropriate proportions, it is rich in essential amino acids, especially cysteine ​​and taurine which are necessary for premature infants, while the content of phenylalanine and tyrosine which have adverse effects on the central nervous system is low.

The smaller the premature baby's weight, the smaller the stomach capacity, so the method of multiple small feedings with shorter intervals should be adopted. Studies have found that premature babies grow and develop faster than full-term babies. Generally, their weight and height are similar to those of full-term babies of the same age by the age of 2. For some babies who are underweight, it may take until the age of 4 to reach a similar height.

Premature babies rely on medical staff and special medical equipment to take care of them during hospitalization, so parents do not need to worry about them. However, all care responsibilities after discharge must be borne by parents. Therefore, it is recommended that parents should have the following items:

1. Prepare necessary equipment: such as oxygen bags (bottles), sputum suction tubes, feeding tubes and empty feeding needles, etc.

2. Become proficient in clearing phlegm from the chest and back: This is beneficial for premature infants whose lungs and trachea are not well developed.

3. Feeding amount: For babies who have just been discharged from the hospital and returned home, the amount of food they are fed for each meal should be maintained at the original amount in the hospital during the first two or three days. There is no need to increase the amount after the baby has adapted to the environment at home, because changes in the environment have a great impact on babies, especially gastrointestinal function.

4. Feeding method: Generally, feeding is done in small amounts with large meals and intermittently. After every minute of feeding, take the bottle out of the baby's mouth to allow the baby to breathe smoothly for about ten minutes, and then continue feeding. Such intermittent feeding can reduce the occurrence of spitting up or breathing pressure.

5. Feeding specially formulated milk powder (such as premature baby milk powder): It can promote digestion and increase nutrient absorption, which is beneficial to the growth of premature babies.

6. Maintain a suitable room temperature: Premature babies are sensitive to the temperature and changes of the environment, so it is important to pay attention to maintaining body temperature and temperature stability to avoid illness due to poor adjustment.

7. Go back to the hospital regularly for follow-up examinations and treatments: such as vision and hearing, jaundice, cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal digestion, brain ultrasound, nutritional consultation and preventive injections, etc.

8. Keep in touch with the doctor for consultation at any time: the doctor who was originally responsible for taking care of the baby has a detailed understanding of his or her condition and is more adept at handling it; if you change to another doctor, it will be bad for the baby.

9. Be proficient in first aid for infants and young children: such as emergency treatment for vomiting (choking), convulsions, and cyanosis of the skin.

When should a baby with a premature birth at 31 weeks of pregnancy be discharged from the hospital? This is something many parents want to know very much, because many parents want to know specifically when is the most appropriate time to do so? The above is a detailed introduction for many parents, so for many parents who have a premature birth at 31 weeks of pregnancy, they must understand the above content and, through comprehensive treatment of the child, meet the discharge criteria before they can choose to be discharged from the hospital.