Perinatal illness of infant

Perinatal illness
Many of the longer term illnesses in infants are associated with prematurity.
Low-birthweight infants continue to suffer from more cerebral disorders than
do full-term infants (Kopp, 1987). Although there has been an increase in the
survival of VLBW and ELBW infants, there has also been an increase in the
incidence of neuropsychiatric disorders in this population (Lorenz, Wooliever,
Jetton & Paneth, 1998; Volpe, 1998).
A number of full-term infants are hospitalised because of genetic abnormalities such as severe cystic fibrosis. Others suffer from conditions such as orthopaedic or cardiac anomalies, immune deficiencies or chronic respiratory
diseases. A small number of infants are hospitalised because of malignancies and
congenital abnormalities such as tracheo-oesophageal fistula and biliary atresia,
who often require multiple and complicated operations or organ transplants.
Although these conditions are not necessarily associated with neurological and intellectual impairments, many of these children suffer from conditions that can mark their future development (Minde, 1993). However, there are few studies that examine the effects of long-term illness or frequent hospitalisations on
infants born at term, according to Minde.