26^th Asia Pacific Neonatology and Pediatric Congress

Research suggests that kangaroo mother care gives premature and low birth-weight babies a better chance of thriving. Kangaroo care method is a process of placing a premature baby on its mother’s naked chest allowing tummy to tummy contact to locate the baby between the mother’s breasts. The baby’s head is positioned above the mother’s heart. This is a technique whereby parents or caregivers become a baby’s incubator until they could maintain their own body temperature. Kangaroo Mother Care has essential components are skin-to-skin contact, and breastfeeding. Many studies have shown that Kangaroo Care offers significant benefits

A premature birth is a birth that takes place more than three weeks before the baby's estimated due date. Complications of prematurity vary depending on how early baby is born. These premature babies are moved to NICU and carry out a number of tests for diagnosis of premature complications and provide special care round the clock.

Proper nutrition especially first 1000 days affects your child’s brain development forever. Breast milk consists of all the necessary vitamins and minerals and is the best source of nourishment for the first 6 months. Solid foods can be introduced at 6th month age with the supervision of your paediatrician. Adequate nutrition during infancy and early childhood is essential to ensure the lifelong health and wellbeing of the children. Malnutrition increases the risk of illness and can lead to delayed growth. At the same time too much food, but not necessarily balanced, leads to obesity which is the worldwide leading health problem.

Neonatal infections remain serious complication, especially among very low birthweight preterm infants. Bacterial infections that happen within 72 hours of birth can be extremely dangerous for newborn babies. These infections are particularly dangerous if there are any delays in recognising that the baby is ill and starting treatment. Neonatal sepsis remains a feared cause of morbidity and mortality in the neonatal period.

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common type of birth defect that affects the structure of the baby’s heart. A congenital heart defect (CHD) results when the heart, or blood vessels near the heart, don’t develop normally before birth.

About 1 in 4 babies born with a heart defect has a critical CHD which needs surgery or other procedures in the first year of life.

There are several newborn complications that may occur during labour or after birth and require clinical care by a doctor. In some cases baby may be admitted to Neonatal Incentive care Unit (NICU) for treatment. Equipment designed for infants and caregivers in the unit that has special training in newborn care in NICU will support the fast recovery of the Neonate.

Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that encompasses the health and medical care of infants, children, and adolescents from birth up to the age of 18 – 21 years old. It also deals with the children’s physical, psychosocial, developmental, and mental health.  The main objectives of the study of paediatrics is to decrease infant and child rate of deaths, control the spread of infectious disease, promote healthy lifestyles for a long disease-free life and help ease the problems of children and adolescents with chronic conditions. Some common pediatric health care issues are as follows.

The Division of Primary Care Pediatrics is dedicated to providing excellent clinical care, training the next generation of pediatricians, advancing our knowledge of ways to improve the health of children, and improving the health of our community. A primary care physician is a specialist, who provides definitive care to the undifferentiated patient at the point of first contact, and takes continuing responsibility for providing the patient's comprehensive care. Such a paediatrician must be specifically trained in acute and chronic care settings.

Pediatric nurses are Registered Nurses (RNs) provide health and medical care for children from birth to all ages till 18-21 years monitoring acute, chronic medical and surgical conditions. Children who require more frequent and invasive monitoring such as those with severe, critical, or life-threatening conditions are cared for in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) where the staff has advanced knowledge and training in the care of critically ill children. Pediatric nurses may also specialize in areas such as cardiology, endocrinology, neonatology, oncology, pulmonary, or trauma and perform tasks specific to those specialties.

Pediatric surgery is a subspecialty of surgery involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults and is specially trained to operate on patients with common and complex surgical needs.

A child with heart problems may or may not have obvious symptoms. About one in every 100 children has a heart problem, which may also be called a heart defect or congenital (present from birth) heart disease. Most congenital heart defects result from problems early in your child's heart development, the cause of which is unknown.

Vaccines reduce your child’s risk of infection by working with their body’s natural defences to help them safely develop immunity to diseases. Vaccines contain ingredients, called antigens, which cause the body to develop immunity.

Cancer is uncommon in children, but can happen. Pediatric oncology is a medical specialty focused on the care of children with cancer. The types of cancers that occur most often in children are different from those seen in adults. The types of treatment that a child with cancer receives will depend on the type of cancer and how advanced it is. Common treatments include: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and stem cell transplant.

Most common diabetes that occurs in children and teens was Type 1. It was called juvenile diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a serious autoimmune disease where the pancreas stops producing insulin which allows the body to get energy from food. One of the early signs of diabetes in children is increased urination and thirst. Type 2 diabetes is less common in young children, but it can occur when insulin is not working properly. Without enough insulin, glucose can accumulate in the bloodstream.