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Neonatology: What is and what diseases of the newborn care

Neonatology: What is and what diseases of the newborn care

Edited by: at 12/01/2022

Neonatology is a subspecialty within pediatrics dedicated to the knowledge, treatment or study of the newborn.

Dr. Roberto René Reyes González

The specialist in neonatology specifically focuses on the diseases that can present the baby during the life span from birth to 28 days. Unlike the neonatologist, the pediatrician serves patients from birth to adolescence. The most common infectious and congenital diseases that attend neonatology are respiratory disorders, which occur more frequently in intensive care units or nursery schools.

Differences between diseases and alterations of maturity

It is worth mentioning that it is very common for parents to come to a pediatrician specializing in neonatology because of alterations in the baby known as "maturity", which are not properly diseases but rather characteristics of the newborn. These changes of maturity within neonatology cause much confusion because for many parents are diseases. However, in most cases they are simply peculiarities of a baby who is not yet mature, that is, his body still does not function as an adult. The most common alterations in maturity in infants up to 28 days of age are digestive disorders such as lack of tolerance to food, gas and colic, among others.

Personalized treatment for each baby

Within the neonatology , the treatment for a baby under 28 days that has a condition, will be directed to each type of alteration. If we talk about the most frequent conditions seen in intensive care units or nurses such as respiratory diseases, for example, we will use oxygen therapy, ventilators and antibiotics. In the neonatology outpatient clinic, the most common challenge in newborn care is to be able to point out the data that actually marks the difference between a disease and a maturity disorder. This is mainly because parents are, and naturally, all cause for concern, but many of these manifestations that look like a disease, are often only a reflection of a being that is in the process of adaptation. The duty of neonatology is to identify the actual signs of illness to provide the timely and specific treatment of each case.  

Pediatrics in Monterrey