In: Nursing
Name five measures for assessing newborn health. What health characteristic does each measure and how is that related to nutrition?
1. Anthropometric assessment- it includes newborn's length ,weight,chest circumference, abdominal circumference and mid arm circumference. If a baby is born with good anthropometry it indicates the baby is normal in growth.
2.Apgar scoring- it helps to find breathing problems and other health issues.the baby is checked 1 minute and 5 minute after the birth fir heart rate,respiration ,colour,muscle tone and reflexes.the baby with low birth weight may have poor apgar score.
3. Vital signs- it measures baby's temperature,heart rate and respiration. The baby with poor feeding and poor room-in may cause health problems.
4.reflexes- it is the assessment of baby's nervous system.it include sucking reflex,moro reflexes, rooting,glabellar etc. Sucking reflexes are main for maintaining nutrition of baby.
5.blood test for bilirubin-neonatal jaundice is common. So it is better to screen for jaundice.jaundice may lead to poor feeding and sucking.