Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD OUTCOMES OF LATE PRETERM INFANTS 1

Early Childhood Outcomes of Late Preterm Infants: Critique and Personal Reflection
Rori Ross
Liberty University EARLY CHILDHOOD OUTCOMES OF LATE PRETERM INFANTS 2
Early Childhood Outcomes of Late Preterm Infants: Critique and Personal Reflection
Pregnancy is often described as one of the most cherished moments of a parent’s life. You spend months preparing for the arrival of your new bundle of joy. Deciding on which form of feeding you will use, which diapers are best, and the most anticipated, wondering whether it will be a girl or a boy are among some of the most exciting and potentially stressful elements. You try to savor every moment, so that you can remember it all in specific detail.
For many women this amazing feeling of nostalgia is over by 30 weeks gestation. At that point, a woman’s feet may begin to swell, lack of room has caused eating to become a task, and sleeping or getting dressed may be a feat all in its own. She may no longer be as elated as she was in the earlier months, and now she just wants her body back and to feel normal again. But, little do we know, an early arrival at this point may have more negative effects than she imagined.
Literature Review
Throughout the pregnancy you are taught the importance of each gestation stage and you learn about each system or body part that develops over a specified amount of time. However, we often forget that the last few weeks are just as critical as the beginning months. In the study that I chose to critique outlined in the article, “Early Childhood Development of Late-Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review”, I was able to review some research that concentrated on infants that are considered to be late preterm infants (LPI). An LPI is one that is born between 34 and 36 weeks gestation (McGowan, 2011). While these infants may not be considered to be in a detrimental state because they were not admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) this research aimed to show the effects that may be attributed to the premature birth.
In this article, they reviewed numerous studies of infants that were best suited for this category; research was chosen to enable us to have a closer look at the effects that preterm birth may have on development during the ages of one to seven. While the initial selection of case was random using a number of sources, many factors determined the children that were grouped together; which included items such as exact gestation and birth weight. These same factors may have caused some children to be excluded from the research. The researchers also chose to exclude any studies of children that they were unable to receive thorough information and research on. The areas of study included neurodevelopmental disabilities, educational ability, early-intervention requirements, medical disabilities, and physical growth.

Observed Criteria

The first area, neurodevelopmental disabilities, was defined as, “a group of heterogeneous conditions that share a disturbance in the acquisition of basic developmental skills in a chronologically appropriate manner”(McGowan, 2011, p. XXX). The first portion of study helped to determine any delays or disabilities that are evident at birth. Subsequently, infants were also assessed at an average age of 48 months to show any further developmental delays in motor and cognitive skills. While the initial testing of LPI showed similar scores compared to full-term infants, later assessments showed a number of delay in the areas of attention or working memory, language, nonverbal reasoning, and manual coordination or dexterity (McGowan, 2011).
The educational ability studies were compiled without the use of a group of infants considered to be full-term. Instead, assessments of two separate groups of children born between 34 and 36 weeks gestation were reviewed. A point scale helped to determine