How to correct gestational age for premature babies

Pregnant women are easily affected by many factors during the pregnancy process, and premature birth may occur at this time. Compared with full-term babies, premature babies have lower functional indicators, poorer immunity, and weaker development. Therefore, there may be certain errors in age calculation, which will affect the calculation of the child's curve standard. At this time, it is necessary to correct the gestational age in time. Let's take a look at this aspect.

How to correct gestational age for premature babies

1. Corrected age = age in months after birth - (40 - gestational age at birth) / 4.

For example: A baby whose gestational age is only 32 weeks is now 3 months old. His corrected age in months = 3-(40-32)/4 = 1 month. At this time, the child's height, weight and head circumference can be compared with the normal infant growth curve for 1 month of age. The corrected age is used until the child reaches 24 months (2 years old).

2. Simply calculate according to the expected date of delivery. This is the opinion of Professor Bao Xiulan, a famous pediatric expert.

For example: The baby was born 8 weeks (2 months) earlier than the expected date of delivery and is now 4 months old, so the corrected age is 4-2=2 months.

3. Confirm according to the actual situation of the baby's neuromotor development. This is not the corrected gestational age, but it has a strong guiding significance and requires testing by a clinical doctor.

Tips:

Have you noticed that the calculation results of the first two methods are the same? The first method is to calculate based on the full-term standard of 40 weeks, and the second method is to calculate based on the expected date of delivery, which is generally calculated based on the full-term standard of about 280 days (i.e. 40 weeks).

How to choose feeding method for premature babies

1. Breast milk: For premature infants with a birth weight of 2000 grams and no high-risk factors for malnutrition, breast milk is still the first choice after discharge from the hospital. Pay attention to the mother's diet and nutritional balance.

2. Breast milk + breast milk fortifier: Extremely (super) low birth weight infants and those with unsatisfactory nutritional status evaluated before discharge need to continue to fortify breast milk until gestational age of 40 weeks. Thereafter, the calorie density of breast milk fortification should be slightly lower than that during hospitalization, such as half-fortification (73kcal/100ml), depending on growth conditions.

3. Premature formula milk: Artificially fed extremely (very) low birth weight infants need to be fed until the gestational age reaches 40 weeks; if the weight gain from breastfeeding is not satisfactory, mixed feeding (premature formula milk should not exceed 1/2 of the total daily amount) can be used as a supplement to breast milk.

4. Formula milk for premature infants after discharge from hospital: suitable for premature infants who are artificially fed or as a supplement to breast milk.

5. Infant formula: Suitable for premature infants with a birth weight of 2000 grams, no high-risk factors for malnutrition, satisfactory weight gain after discharge, and artificial feeding, or as a supplement when breast milk is insufficient.

How to correct the gestational age of premature infants? This article introduces the calculation method of the corrected gestational age of premature infants. It has great practical significance. We can judge the baby's development through the corrected data of premature babies. For example, the baby's height, weight, head circumference, etc. Determine whether the baby's growth is consistent with normal months. These can give mothers peace of mind.