How To: Giving Babies a Healthy Start

All babies deserve a healthy start to life. As a parent, it's important to do your part to help your child reach his or her full developmental potential. Sandra Madubuonwu, MSN, CSN, RN, is a parent/child nurse specialist and supervisor for Le Bonheur's Nurse Family Partnership program. We asked Sandra to weigh in on the following questions and offer tips for parents who want to give their babies a healthy start.

Why is prenatal care so important?

Prenatal care is very important because it leads to improved pregnancy outcomes. The health care provider is able to obtain a baseline assessment on the mother and baby early in pregnancy and monitor the progress throughout the period. If any pregnancy risks are detected or developed during this period, the doctor can plan ahead and determine the best way to treat the problem with minimal risk to the mother and the unborn baby. Any pre-existing medical disorder of the mother is also noted, and a plan is developed by to address and monitor the issues.

Women tend to listen to their health care providers and generally want to have healthy babies, so they will engage in good preventive health practices. The health care providers can educate parents about topics such as proper nutrition for the healthy growth of the baby.

At prenatal checkups, parents can also learn the danger signs in pregnancy and when to seek medical intervention. The doctor can refer the patient to available resources in the community that help promote good pregnancy outcomes and child health development.

What can parents do to promote healthy development for their babies?

At no other time in life are physical changes and developmental achievements as dramatic as during infancy. All body systems undergo progressive maturation. Concurrent development allows infants to increasingly respond to the environment.

Interaction with the infant is very important to help their fine and gross motor skills to develop. It also helps brain development. The more interaction the parent has with the child, the better the baby's brain development will be.

Interaction can be as simple as reading to the baby. Playing is also necessary to help stimulate the infant at an early age. Repetition is the key to learning and to the development of language. The parent should talk to the infant in a regular tone. The so-called "baby language" is not necessary; it is actually confusing to the infant.Parenting classes are available in the community to help new mothers learn how to interact and provide proper stimulation for their babies.

Explain how good pregnancy outcomes lead to healthy, productive families.

It is obvious that when the pregnancy outcome is good - meaning the baby is born healthy -- the parents adjust more quickly to having a new child and are able to function better in their parenting role and also in the community. Parents are able to return to work or school more quickly. On the other hand if the outcome is not good, and the baby is born with health issues, it puts physical, emotional and financial pressure on the family.

According to data from the Tennessee Department of Health from September 2010, in Shelby County, 13.2 percent of births were preterm births. Only 20 counties - out of 94 in the state - had more preterm births. That number could be reduced if pregnant mothers receive adequate prenatal care, getting proper intervention from a health care provider.