Wise or otherwise? EARLY ENTRY INTO THE WORLD -DAY OF DELIVERY (PART 3)

It could have specific learning disorder (as seen in Taare Zameen Par), if it were lucky enough to escape bigger insults. Baby might not get the first rank in class, we can assure you this. Confidently.

It could have hearing problems, because of high bilirubin levels (because of immature liver etc), because of ototoxic drugs we use in NICU, or because of immature nervous system anywhere until Heschl Nucleus (primary auditory cortex). So you might have to shell out more money (as if NICU bill wasnt enough) on cochlear implants etc without evidence that it will definitely help. So hearing being affected his speech will be affected too, naturally. Parents might not hear him speak at all.

It could have visual impairment because of superoxide toxicity (retinopathy of prematurity), damage to retina by phototherapy light, or cortical blindness (where the lesion is in primary visual cortex).

It could have personality disorders (many research papers have been published - what we call evidence based medicine, who verifies the evidence? its us humans after all). So the kid could turn out to have attention deficit disorder, a defiant disorder, an outlaw, ANYTHING! Anything that child does or child seems to have, BLAME IT ON IMMATURITY.

This is what studies have shown. What do we counsel the parents when they ask the question, "what will happen to my baby?" The first thing that flashes in our minds: hello! I'm a doctor, not an astrologer, be grateful to me, I saved your kid.

Then what do we do next? We search internet, read bulky books and conclude that your baby has __ % of having seizuire disorder, __ % of turning blind/ deaf and so on.
That completes our discharge summary.

WAIT A MINUTE! Has anyone told the parents, well, your child could be another genius. WHAT?!! SAY IT AGAIN!! Yes. The same prematures with hopeless fate sealed in the minds of parents by doctors, once upon a time, have turned out to be some of the greats, that other so called normal term newborns haven't scaled anywhere close.

Winston Churchill, born 2 months premature, has been the most prominent leader of 20th century and his words during world war2 “We shall fight on the beaches,we shall fight on the landing grounds
… we shall never surrender” , definitely disproves his hearing and speech disabilities, doesnt it?

If learning disability can be a compllication of immaturity, do we have an answer in Sir Isaac Newton? Now, because of him, we are facing learning difficulties in gravitation physics. The midwives, left hopes regarding his survival soon after birth. And if you thought, he would turn out to be a retard, well, as against his 170 IQ, where do we stand? Do we redefine mental retardation?
At birth Newton weighed 1.4kg, a little less than our baby here.

You dont want your premature to be a politician or a scientist, well, is it OK if he could win you an oscar or a grammy? I'm talkin about Stewie Wonder, one of the world's most famous music artist. He spent his first 2 months in NICU and as mentioned above as one of the complications, never saw light.

Now we talk about ventilator care, expensive life saving medications, human milk fortifiers, phototherapy equipement,intravenous immunoglobulins, complex diseases and what not! Dint life exist before all these? Say, in 1835 when Mark Twain was born 2 months earlier than the expected date of delivery. Following which, his imagination could take his as far as in creating “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.

Whew!! Is this enough? I wonder if these people were to be born now and the researchers had included them in their long term followup studies, in proving how wrong it is to be born a premature, well, I'm afraid, the investigators would have lost faith in research!

The list ain't over yet. I saved the best for the last.
Albert Einstein. A genius. No words to describe him. IQ of 180 plus. What do you say now? One thing I can say of him is, prematurity does give you a ruffled hair style.

The greats like Pablo Picasso, Franklin Roosevelt, John Keats, Napoleon Bonaparte, Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Mark Thatcher, Charles Darwin all were born premature, defying our present evidence based medicine excelled in their lives, let alone being normal, or just surviving a life!

So what do we counsel the parents next time? Or do we stand for a photograph with the kid?