Preventative Healthcare for the Newborn Baby

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/preventive-healthcare-newborn-baby

Introduction

## Course Review: Preventative Healthcare for the Newborn Baby on Coursera ### Overview The "Preventative Healthcare for the Newborn Baby" course offered on Coursera is a vital educational resource for anyone involved in newborn care, including parents, healthcare professionals, and student practitioners. This course provides an in-depth exploration of crucial preventative measures that can significantly impact the health and wellbeing of newborns in their critical early days and weeks. From addressing common issues such as jaundice to exploring innovative screening techniques and necessary vaccinations, this course is packed with valuable information that can equip you with the knowledge to identify potential health risks and act swiftly to protect the precious lives of newborns. ### Course Content The course is structured into several modules, each focusing on different critical aspects of preventative healthcare for newborns: #### 1. **Jaundice** The course begins with an essential discussion on jaundice, a prevalent condition in newborns characterized by yellowing of the skin and eyes due to high bilirubin levels. The module elucidates the causes of hyperbilirubinemia, offers guidance on identification skills, and outlines management steps to prevent long-term complications like kernicterus. #### 2. **Hearing and Screening** Addressing hearing loss in newborns is crucial, and this module lays the groundwork by defining types of hearing loss, identifying its causes, and highlighting the importance of early intervention. Participants will gain insight into existing systems for early identification of hearing issues and the treatments available to ensure children receive the care they need as soon as possible. #### 3. **Newborn Screening** Beyond the charm of newborns lies the professional responsibility to detect underlying conditions. This module covers the pivotal role of newborn screening tests, particularly the blood spot test, in identifying various potential illnesses. You'll familiarize yourself with general screening principles and the critical diseases that such tests can uncover. #### 4. **Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD)** Congenital heart defects pose grave risks for newborns. This module introduces pulse oximetry, a simple yet effective screening tool for detecting CCHD early in life. By learning how to conduct this screening, you will be positioned to make a significant difference in the lives of newborns at risk of serious heart defects. #### 5. **Vitamin K, Hepatitis B, and Erythromycin** The final module addresses important medical interventions that every newborn should receive. Participants will explore the role of vitamin K in preventing bleeding disorders, the necessity of hepatitis B vaccinations, and the application of erythromycin to guard against eye infections. ### Conclusion and Recommendation "Preventative Healthcare for the Newborn Baby" is an essential course that not only informs but empowers its participants to act knowledgeably and responsibly in the realm of newborn care. The comprehensive approach of the course, covering topics from common health conditions to life-saving interventions, makes it highly recommended for: - **Parents:** To equip themselves with knowledge essential for caring for their newborns. - **Healthcare professionals:** To refresh and enhance their skills with updated practices in newborn health. - **Students:** Pursuing careers in healthcare can greatly benefit by understanding the key concepts and applications related to newborn care. By the end of the course, participants will feel confident in their ability to advocate for and maintain the health of newborns, ensuring a strong start for these young lives. Not only does this course contribute to personal growth and knowledge, but it also fosters a community of informed caregivers ready to make a positive impact in their families and beyond. Enroll today on Coursera and take a proactive step towards mastering preventative healthcare for newborns!

Syllabus

Jaundice

Let’s start off talking about a common problem that can be easily identified and treated in newborns. And that is hyperbilirubinemia, which we see as jaundice, or yellow skin, in newborn babies. In this module, we’ll teach you how jaundice occurs and the skills needed to identify hyperbilirubinemia. We’ll finish by telling you the steps to take to lessen the chances of permanent brain damage caused by hyperbilirubinemia, which is called kernicterus.

This module introduces you to the world of hearing and hearing loss, particularly in children. You will learn how hearing loss is classified, causes of hearing loss, implications of hearing loss, and why it is important to treat childhood hearing loss as soon as possible. We will explore the systems in place for identifying childhood hearing loss as early as possible, as well as the treatments available once it is detected.

Everyone enjoys caring for newborns; they are adorable. There is a little more to newborn care than cuteness, though. Our job as clinicians caring for the newly born is to examine them carefully for illnesses that are not readily apparent. One important way in which we do this is with newborn screening tests. In this module, you will learn about the blood spot test. We will go over general concepts and give examples of each of the various types of diseases that it can detect.

Congenital heart diseases are some of them most common birth defects. They range from minor to life-threatening. The most concerning are the group known as “Critical Congenital Heart Diseases” because they require surgery by one month of age in order to avoid death. Pulse oximetry is a simple test that can be used to screen newborns for these serious heart defects, enabling us to identify them in the first days of life. In this module, you will learn how to perform this potentially life-saving screening test.

In this module, we will cover the role of vitamin K in blood clotting, sources of vitamin K, and the reasons why newborns lack vitamin K at birth. This will help us to achieve the broader understanding of why it is important to administer, or give, the vitamin K injection to newborns shortly after birth! Extending the understanding of the importance of vitamin K by identifying the sources of this vitamin in our diet and the reasons why newborns lack this vitamin, we will then discuss vitamin K deficiency bleeding in newborns and the vitamin K injection. We will then learn about the hepatitis B virus and discuss why it is important to vaccinate newborns shortly after birth! This lesson will discuss eye infections in newborns, and the reasons for application of an antibiotic ointment called erythromycin to a newborn’s eyes after birth.