Common terms - D
Developmental care
Developmental care not only promotes understanding of a baby's strengths and
weaknesses, it also suggests ways for promoting stability and growth and
encourages parental involvement and partnership.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a condition caused by having not enough insulin in the body. This results in
high blood sugars which can be dangerous. Mothers who are diabetic need very close monitoring
during pregnancy and delivery. Their babies are at higher risk of developing problems during
pregnancy and after delivery. The commonest problem in the baby is a low blood sugar for a short time after delivery.
Other complications in the baby include breathing problems. Many of the babies will need admission to a neonatal unit.
Some mothers have no problems with diabetes except during pregnancy. This is called gestational diabetes. The babies
are still at increased risk of problems, particularly low blood sugars after birth.
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Dysmorphic
This term is used to describe babies with unusual physical features. Some babies
have a number of different unusual features that together form a recognisable
pattern (a syndrome). The pattern may have a name. One example of this would be
Downs syndrome. Recognising a pattern like this can be helpful because it can
help to predict whether there are going to be other health problems later. If
the doctors think that a baby has dysmorphic features a number of tests,
including looking at your baby's chromosomes, may be carried out and other
specialists may be asked to look at the baby and give advice.
DPT:
Diptheria- Pertussis (whooping cough)- Tetanus. These are all serious infectious diseases
which have been controlled, mainly due to effective immunisation programmes. Any reduction in uptake of these vaccinations,
raises the possibility that the incidence of these diseases can rise once again.
These vaccines are combined as a single injection and given at 2,3 and 4 months of age.
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