Very Low Birthweight: A Long-term Developmental Impairment?

Abstract

Research with very low birthweight (VLBW) infants (≤isoog) may be broadly categorised into product and process studies. Recent product-oriented outcome studies are reviewed from the perspective of whether VLBW infants born since 1975 (when intensive care methods became relatively stabilised in effectiveness) show behavioural problems, intellectual impairment, linguistic or social deficits. Process studies examining cognitive, social and contextual variables, differentiating VLBW and normal birthweight infants, and thought to compromise long-term outcome are then discussed. It is argued, in the light of the conflicting evidence, that future studies need to: (1) exert greater control over the medical and psychological variables confounded with low birthweight, including the variable of social class; (2) study outcome from a life-span perspective, examining the possibility of an intergenerational cycle for at least some families; and; (3) incorporate both systems-oriented and transactional models into their designs, for the purpose not only of predicting outcome, but also ultimately for providing the most appropriate types of support for these infants.

Longitudinal study of gross‐motor development in blind infants and preschoolers1

“…According to this idea, the interaction between blindness and prematurity poses a greater threat to early development than each individual risk added together: Because of the problems with attention and information processing that frequently accompany prematurity (e.g., short attention span, irritability, restlessness, difficulties in sensorimotor coordination, for reviews, see Reckwith & Rodning, 1991;Hoy, Bill & Sykes, 1988), preterm blind children are less able than their full-term blind peers to compensate the lack of vision through other sensory modalities, and, vice versa, their blindness-specific constraints make them less able to balance out the risks of their prematurity than sighted premature children. A greater understanding of the possible interaction between blindness and prematurity could be obtained from studies that try to specify more precisely both the cognitive and perceptual demands confronting blind children in their attempts to compensate for the lack of vision as well as the deficits in information processing that accompany prematurity.…”

Maternal prenatal stress and infant birth weight and gestational age: A meta-analysis of prospective studies

“…Second, birth weight and gestational age constitute primary birth indicators of the child's developmental health and are related to postnatal factors that are a part of the infant's postnatal experience, such as the quality of mother-infant interaction (Bernier et al, 2010;Keenan et al, 2007). Third, these birth outcomes have also been directly associated with social, emotional and cognitive dimensions of human development (Hack et al, 1991;Hoy, Bill, & Sykes, 1988;Indredavik et al, 2004;Richards, Hardy, Kuh, & Wadsworth, 2001;Wolke, 1998) underlining their value as early markers of development. Finally, from a methodological perspective, birth outcome variables are relatively uninfluenced by postnatal experience.…”

The effects of biological and social risk factors on special education placement: birth weight and maternal education as an example

“…Goldenberg and Bronstein (1994) report that babies born LBW have a higher mortality rate than their normal birth weight (NBW Ͼ 2500 grams) peers. However, more LBW babies are surviving past infancy due to advances in medical technology (Dunn, 1986;Hack, Klein, & Taylor, 1995;Hoy, Bill, & Sykes, 1988). Therefore, the long-term outcomes of children born LBW need to be investigated.…”