Infant Follow-up of Premature Infants

ABSTRACT

Agrowing number of premature infants including those with extremely low birth weight (birth weight <1,000g) are surviving in recent years with advances in neonatal intensive care. The infant follow-up program is a service that provides a continuum of care to high-risk infants who have increased risk for major and minor neuro-developmental impairments after they have been discharged from the hospital's intensive care unit. The goals of the outpatient clinic include the followup of the growth and development, identification of medical, neurological, developmental or psychological abnormalities, referral and consultation services as needed, and the enhancement of infant-parental bonding. All high-risk premature infants who are at risk for developmental delays should be evaluated with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at corrected 7~8, 18, and 24 months and appropriate developmental assessment tools later in life to identify problems and to make appropriate referrals for early interventional therapies such as physical, occupational, speech, hearing, feeding and play group.