Neonatal period is the first 4 weeks of life after birth. A neonate must quickly adapt to extra uterine life after birth even though their body systems are still developing. During this time, the parents must know that a neonate is more susceptible to diseases and must be taken care properly.

The top six causes of neonatal mortality are pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, neonatal sepsis, preterm delivery and asphyxia. Seventy-three percent of the 10.6 million child deaths worldwide each year are the result of these diseases.

Did you know?

During neonatal phase, four communicable disease categories account for 54% of all child deaths globally.

Pneumonia = 19% of all child deaths

Diarrhea = 17% of all child deaths

Malaria = 8% of all child deaths

Neonatal Sepsis = 10% of all child deaths

Under nutrition is an underlying cause in more than half of all deaths before age 5. More than 37% of all child deaths occur during the neonatal period.

Source: WHO

Neonatal Examination and its Importance

For neonatal care to be effective, a newborn should have an initial examination as soon as possible after delivery. Why? So abnormalities can be detected and a baseline data can be established for subsequent examination.

Why should a neonate be examined at once? Certain abnormalities often appear or disappear in the immediate neonatal period.

What should be observed during the examination?

Examining the neonate is very important for you to render the right care. Knowing the physiological aspect of the neonate adds to the quality of care they will receive. 

• 
  General appearance: Pallor, jaundice or cyanosis. Features of syndromes like Down's Syndrome, if the baby is appropriate for the period of gestation, small? or large?
  
• 
  Skin: Birth marks, meconium staining, cyanosis, subcutaneous bleeding 
  
• 
  Head: Size, tension of fontanelles, head circumference 
  
• 
  Face: Jaws, haerelip, ptosis or cataract, subconjunctival haemorrhage 
  
• 
  Arms and Hands: Proportions of arms or fingers, number of fingers, normal movements, edema 
  
• 
  Chest: Distortion, recession, distress, respiratory rate, air entry, additional sounds, breast enlargement 
  
• 
  Cardiovascular System: Quality of pulses, heart sounds and murmurs 
  
• 
  Abdomen: Palpate carefully for renal, bladder, liver, spleen, and other masses. 
  
• 
  Genitalia: Look for ambiguous genitalia. 
  
• 
  Legs and feet: Proportions of leg and feet, club foot, femoral pulses. 
  
• 
  Back: Scoliosis, spina bifida, sacral pit, myelomeningocile 
  
• 
  Mouth: If there is a soft palate, profuse saliva, look for rooting and sucking reflexes 
  
• 
  CNS: If all four limbs are moving normally, if the baby is alert, moro and grasp reflexes, rooting and sucking reflexes 
  
• 
  Test for hip dislocation 
  

Steps taken for Neonatal Care: 

Compared to the elders or grown children, neonatal require more care. They tend to catch up any disease easily, esp. during the early months.

Organizations all over world including WHO are more concerned about the neonatal care today. They give recommendations to the medical institutions about the maternal and neonatal care. The training is given to improve the health and survival of both the mother and their babies. In fact, the medical staff working in every hospital is given special training to take care of neonates.

Neonatal Care Equipments:

Special neonatal care equipments are arranged in every hospital. Some of the equipments include maternal care, neonatal phototherapy, open care infant warmer, infant radiant warmer and more.

The most important equipment used for neonatal care is the phototherapy unit. The phototherapy unit includes Neonatal phototherapy unit, neonatal phototherapy unit and LED phototherapy.

How Phototherapy Unit can help?

Phototherapy is considered to be one of the best treatments for curing infants jaundice.

Phototherapy units are generally used for PUVA therapy. The phototherapy unit is used in the treatment of various skin conditions using ultraviolet lights.

The neonatal phototherapy units are well designed that provide neonatal hyper-bilirubinaemiacare. Some of the features include blue light, compact design, easy to operate, separate white lamps, specially designed heat vents, phoenix infant bassinet, noise-free operation and low energy consumption.

The LED phototherapy system is designed based on the fiber-optic based technology that is used for the treatment of indirect hyperbilirubinemia in newborns. One such phototherapy unit that features increased surfaced area, high spectral radiance and LED light is Medicaid Phototherapy Units.

The Medicaid Phototherapy Units, LED NEO BILI-300 and CFL PT-22 are simple, energy efficient and easy to use. Their LED light based phototherapy unit is very useful in the treatment of newborn jaundice. With a compact design, high performance and energy efficient phototherapy unit, these models have the arrangement of LED lights to allow illumination of the whole surface area and noise free operation.

Phototherapy Units are essentials for any medical facility. If the proper Neonatal Care is done, lots of neonatal death can be avoided every year worldwide.