Anemia among premature infants is a common yet serious condition that could greatly affect the health of a baby. Incomplete development makes premature infants susceptible to various medical issues, one of which is anemia. What causes anemia in them, and how could new clinical technologies help in tackling it?

Anemia is a health condition where the baby’s body has fewer red blood cells than normal. Red blood cells (RCBs) have hemoglobin, which transports oxygen to tissues around the body. In preterm babies, anemia might result in a lack of oxygen in the main organs, thereby affecting development and general health.

Key Causes of Anemia in Preterm Infants

Effects of Anemia on Preterm Newborns

Anemia has significant consequences on the development and growth of a preterm infant. Low oxygen supply inhibits organ functionality, slows weight gain, and delays neurological development. In extreme conditions, it may lead to serious complications such as apnea, poor feeding, and prolonged hospitalization.

How the Preemie Ecosystem Supports Preterm Nutrition and Lowers Anemia Risks

For the most part, treatment of anemia in preterm infants is multimodal, including blood transfusions, iron supplementation, and nutritional optimization. That’s where Preemie comes into play. Preemie ensures that each preterm infant receives personalised nutrition through human milk composition analysis and real-time data-driven support for targeted fortification.

Here’s how Preemie helps fight anemia:

• Optimized nutrition: Preemie’s Milk Analysis software provides specific details about the nutritional makeup of human milk, including iron levels. Clinicians therefore have opportunities for subtle adjustments in milk fortification according to the individual needs of each infant to prevent conditions resulting from a deficiency in the iron supply.
• Precise Fortification: The Preemie Sensor and Milk Analysis software, working in collaboration with NutriNTrack software, provides the exact calculation of fortification to be added so as to provide the premature babies with the right amount of nutrients important for the production of RBCs.
• Monitoring of Growth and Nutrition: Preemie’s NutriNTrack software enables real-time tracking of growth indicators and nutritional intake by clinicians allowing them to follow the infant’s progress closely and adopt suitable feeding strategies that contribute to better overall health outcomes, including reduced risk of anemia.

In preterm babies, anemia is a serious but manageable condition brought about by factors including underdeveloped RBC production and lack of iron. However, with new initiatives in neonatal care, especially through creative systems such as Preemie, we can answer these challenges more effectively. Preemie ensures improved, personalised growth and nutrition for preterm babies through data-driven nutritional care. This helps reduce the risk of anemia in preterm infants and the associated complications.

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REFERENCES

Klingenberg, C., Embleton, N. D., & Jacobs, S. E. (2018). Anemia in preterm infants: Diagnosis and management. In Neonatology: Management, Procedures, On-Call Problems, Diseases, and Drugs (7th ed., pp. 45-56). McGraw Hill.

Ohls, R. K., & Christensen, R. D. (2015). Anemia and red blood cell transfusions in the neonate. In Avery’s Diseases of the Newborn (10th ed., pp. 1137-1150). Elsevier.

Ward, R. M., & Beachy, J. C. (2003). Neonatal complications following preterm birth. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 110(S20), 8-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-0328(03)00012-8

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). (2017). Clinical practice guidelines for the use of red blood cell transfusions in neonates. Pediatrics, 140(6), e20172858.

World Health Organization (WHO). (2019). Optimal feeding of low-birth-weight infants in low- and middle-income countries. Geneva: WHO.