If your baby is a preemie, than he already has some obstacles to overcome. But what if the simple treatment of using an IV to keep him hydrated and fed could actually be harming him? That is what a new study in Germany may be revealing.
My oldest son was born at 38 weeks when my water broke, and I had to be induced. Of course, 38 weeks is hardly a preemie, and in fact considered full term by the medical community. Still, he suffered from jaundice that was bad enough to have him hospitalized. His liver wasn’t mature enough to deal with processing the levels of billirubin in his blood.
My son was placed under special lights, and because these lights can cause dehydration, he was also given a standard IV. I made sure to nurse him every couple of hours through the night, although the nursing staff discouraged this since it took him away from the lights when he was feeding. Because he was nursing so well, the IV was eventually taken away. This apparently was a good thing, since we now know that the majority of IV bags used, even in babies, contain phthalates, chemicals that appear to cause a whole host of dangerous side effects and are under further study and scrutiny.
The phthalate in question concerning the IV bags is DEHP, and the researchers have found that this chemical may increase the risk of a preemie developing liver damage. Animal studies with this chemical have found various health risks, including reproductive system abnormalities and, of course, liver damage.
Doctors have long known that feeding with an IV increases the risk of liver damage in premature infants, but until now, there was no stated possible reason for this observation. Perhaps now we have an answer.
Some hospitals in the United States have started to switch over to IV bags that are phthalate free, but this by no means has become standard practice. If you have a premature infant, or any infant, in need of an IV, make sure that the bag used does not contain phthalates.
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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