I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for MedImmune. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.
November 17th is World Prematurity Day. When a baby is born prematurely {at or before 37 weeks gestation}, it can put the baby at risk for complications and illnesses that many full term babies don’t generally have to face.
November 17th Is World Prematurity Day
Each year worldwide, 13 million babies are born prematurely, and more than one million preemies have died just this year from the serious health challenges they face. The current rate of prematurity in the United States is 12.2 percent—one of the highest rates of preterm birth in the world. Even more alarming is that the rates have risen by 36 percent over the last 25 years.
RSV and Your Premature Baby: What You Need To Know
It is important to learn about RSV {a virus that almost 100% of children contract by 2 years of age}. Prematurity can stunt growth of a babies most vital organs. Because of this, preemies are especially susceptible to the risks of RSV {Respiratory syncytial virus}.And winter months can be especially difficult for these babies.
Things You Need To Know About RSV
- RSV epidemics occur each year, between November March, typically, though it can vary yearly in different areas.
- RSV disease is the leading cause of hospitalization for babies first year of life in the US, hospitalizing approximately 125,000 babies and causing up to 400 infant deaths each year.
- RSV disease is the reason for one of every 13 pediatrician visits and one out of of every 38 trips to the ER in children under the age of five.
- Many parents are not even aware of RSV even though it is so common; in fact, one-third of mothers have never heard of the virus
I had a family member who’s baby had to be hospitalized for RSV. Fortunately the baby was fine in the end, but he was very sick for quite some time.
Signs and Symptoms of RSV
- Persistent coughing and/or wheezing
- Bluish color around the mouth or fingernails
- Rapid, difficult, or gasping breaths
- Fever [especially if it is over 100.4°F (rectal) in infants under 3 months of age]
There are things that you can do to help stop the spread of RSV. Be sure to wash hands frequently and thoroughly. Avoid crowds with small children during RSV season, avoid sick people and never let anyone smoke around your baby. Also, be sure to keep anything that your baby comes into contact clean and sanitized, such as bedding and toys.
Most importantly, be aware of the signs of RSV. RSV can live outside of the body for several hours. If you think your baby has RSV, please seek medical help immediately.
I had no idea. Thank you for bringing such awareness to this important topic. The leading cause of hospitalization….that is very scary. The winter months and cold are hard on everyone, and we need to take proper precautions and stay on top of our health. Keeping babies warm, safe, and paying attention to the signs is especially important.
I didn’t realize how serious this is…pretty scary
I didn’t realize there was a World Prematurity Day. This is a great way to get the word out about RSV and other threats to newborns.
Thanks for for posting this and bringing more awareness to this cause. I always have had this cause dear to my heart because my mom was babysitting her baby sister and found her lifeless. She had passed from SIDS and my mom always blamed herself. When she had my sister and I she used to sleep in our rooms and constantly check make sure that we were breathing. She told me about this when I was older. =)
That is so sad. I am so sorry that happened to your mom. 🙁
This is so scary and thanks for sharing. It’s very important info for moms!!!
This is so scary.Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this. In all honesty, before my third child got it, I had no clue what it was. Then one day I took my little one in for her monthly check up, the doctor took one look at her eyes, listed to her chest and immediately had her tested. I had NO CLUE! Looking back, I think it was missed on my older daughter, which may be why she now has allergy induced asthma… Thankfully none of my children had it to the extent of being life-threatening, though… Thank GOODNESS, right? Thanks so much for sharing
so important to raise awareness…my son had RSV as a baby too
My friend’s son had this and it was SOOO scary! Thanks for bringing awareness to RSV!
I have never heard of RSV before the E-Mails came to my Box, and I have two grown Children.
Thanks for the post and the information it is very important for Parents to know about this.
I had a flashback. My 13 year old had rsv as a baby. It was a horrible time. Very hard and scary time. She was 3 weeks early, so not really a premie, but very very sick. This is a great post to bring awareness.
Never heard of RSV thanks so much for sharing this important information. My oldest was in an oxygen tent in the hospital when he was little and when I asked them what he had they said a virus. It sounds like it was RSV.
Will share this article with my daughters. They both just had babies 2 & 3 weeks ago.
Wow! So close together! How cool. Congratulations! 🙂
How scary! Thanks for the info and the reminder to be careful. Now’s such a difficult time of year as with the holidays you’re often seeing with family and friends who don’t visit often and want to hold baby.
I think that your are wonderful in helping to spread awareness of RSV that affects infants, and I hope that by your bloggers doing this you make others more aware of such a serious complication of infancy. Thanks for the public service of blogging this information.
Its so hard to say no to letting others hold the baby especially relatives who have never seen them. For their own health it is bette not to expose them to health problems.
Thanks for sharing. My 2.5 month old currently has rsv and it is very scary. My older two (ages 2and 4) developed croup and just passed it right along.
Oh no. I hope your little one gets better very soon.