How to Know if Your Newborn is Normal

Host: We look at kids' growth and development. We look at really certain factors. Fine motor skills, gross motor skills, right. All about the thinking and a little bit of communication, is that sure? Henry Joseph Hasson: Sure. Host: So, we certainly look at them individually, but we look at the overall picture. Henry Joseph Hasson: Right. Host: Some kids grow mentally, if somebody is quicker than some other kids, doesn't mean that there is something wrong with the kid, but if all of them are behind, there is a little bit of red flag, we look at them in a particular way. We just try to go through the key areas of the development at different ages and if you find something the kid isn't doing, this means there is some problem. It just means that we are aware of it? It should be followed by your pediatrician, do you agree? Henry Joseph Hasson: Yeah. Host: And like my fellow did not walk till he was two and he had word processing. Albert Einstein didn't talk until he was four, Father said, no he was a pretty smart guy. He had nothing to say, he was just thinking in his head. So, you can't go by that. Obviously the more things are falling behind, the more chance there is a problem, is that true? Henry Joseph Hasson: Yeah, and all children develop at their own rate and there are some guidelines based on the general population that we follow and when we see that your child is falling significantly behind in certain areas that would be a time when we start investigating and just following and maybe doing some intervention, that would be necessary, depending on which areas, he would be suffering. Host: If you went by a newborn nursery and I have you say that before, the first thing you do you observe. Henry Joseph Hasson: Correct. Host: And what would you be looking for if you saw a kid in a newborn nursery. This is probably where they do not examine a kid, probably pretty healthy kid, what would you be looking for? Henry Joseph Hasson: So, the first thing is we just really just look at the child. Look at his position in the crib. How he is holding his body, how he is holding his arms and legs? And one of the most important things we see that he is moving all of his extremities, both his hands, his legs, in a normal fashion and symmetrically. That always has to be something very symmetric, that he is always moving one side much more than the other or always turn to one side. Those are signs of concerns, that maybe one sided body isn't developing as well as the other, but as long the everything is moving it's a normally moving, these are things that we assure. Host: Sometimes the baby, they shake a little bit in the nursery, you touch they crib, they jump, and also usually called benign tremors, but if they keep going on and on and on, it could be something wrong with maybe, electrolyte or calcium are little low, their sugars are low, but you generally see some tremors in the kid, you are watching, and you see it dissipates; is that true? Henry Joseph Hasson: Yeah, there are all sorts of abnormal movements in children and a lot of people are phrasing the abnormal movements are seizures and sometimes they can be seizures, but not all abnormal movements are seizures. Those are not something that a neurologist would really need to be involved and to evaluate properly. Host: And if you pick the kid up by the hands, there is a lag on the head, is that true? Henry Joseph Hasson: Yeah, when the baby is first born, they have a poor head control, but as they get older even within the first month, they really start developing much better head control. Host: The other thing you look at is the color. Some babies could turn blue because they are cold, but when the kid is not warm and comfortable and not crying, you look at the kid's color, so it's about the general appearance. Is there anything else you look at a newborn that say oh, this kid is okay or a problem that you are looking? Henry Joseph Hasson: All you want to make sure is that they are eating properly or able to suck well. They have the muscles and their cheeks are developed, the coordinations are developed like that, and that they are consolable and they are not just completely crying without being able to comfort them, and the baby should be able to --all these are signs that the baby is healthy. Host: Bonding is very important. Can a baby really tell or see when they are born? Henry Joseph Hasson: It's very difficult to tell obviously, how much a baby sees or it doesn't see. It does seem that they don't see as clearly as we do. It may be just see some forms and colors but babies can see from -- Host: I saw in a study once where they took a circle, a square and an oval on babies, and how they they actually fix it, more on the oval like a human face? Henry Joseph Hasson: That's right. Host: But the other thing is that they probably see some shapes, I don't know if they see any color when they are born, but they certainly fix it on oval which could match their mother's face, that bonding is very important, isn't it? Henry Joseph Hasson: Oh, of course. We have a special area in our brain that is focused on just seeing faces and recognizing faces and storing those in memory and a baby recognizes from early on who his mother's face is? And his father's face? Especially the mother's face and they use this for their own comfort level. There have been lots of studies where babies will often -- a lot of parents have notice in their own children when they are -- when there is a new environment and a new person walks in, they always look at the mother's face and get an idea if the mother is worried or if she is happy, and if the mother is happy, the baby will be usually comfortable and happy and if the mother is worried, the baby will start being anxious. Host: A new mother is very nervous and sometimes they hold the baby and they are so nervous that their hands are shaking. They will probably tell the kid, I am an amateur and the nurse who has fed 20,000 babies holds the kid with confidence, security and that the babies don't cry. Henry Joseph Hasson: A lot of that is just the parents need some reassurance from their doctors or from those around them, their mothers and their sisters who may have already had children. A lot of first time mothers are very nervous and it is understandable. It's a very big responsibility and you don't always know you are doing, they don't come with manuals obviously, but babies are pretty easy to take care of once you are comfortable with yourself and you are comfortable with the child and it's just a matter of holding them, feeding them and their newborn period can be very -- it's just a matter -- really matter of enjoying them. Host: So, first time we touch that baby, we send a little bit of that information for him, I am a professional, I know what I am doing, you stay calm. Henry Joseph Hasson: Right and the baby can sense a lot of that, just by the facial expressions, by the smell that he smelled and they can really tell what's happening. Host: But a good observation from a experienced pediatrician, that this is probably a pretty healthy baby, more than just the examination, just how that kid looks.