When I notice something different to my son, I thought that maybe because he is born prematurely and he is just on delay development. But as time passes, I and my husband agree to evaluate my son to a development behavioral pediatrician to check his condition. The doctor’s diagnosis of my son is Global Development Delay and he advised him to have Occupational Therapy session and eventually Speech Therapy session for six months.
At the back of my mind, I always think what maybe the causes of my son’s condition. But yesterday, I read about an article saying that children who were born prematurely tend to have emotional and behavioral problem that are likely to present when they enter school and to persist at least a year. Some research shows that preterm baby have an increased risk of attention problems, hyperactivity, social problems, anxiety and depression. The earlier the child was born, the more they likely to have emotional or behavioral problem. Early detection is important to give a child the right care for his future.
Hornman told Reuters Health by email that “the brain develops very fast in the last weeks of pregnancy, especially the reorganization and differentiation of newly form neural networks and preterm disrupts this and could increased the risk of long-term emotional and behavioral problems.”
If we have preterm baby, it is important for parents to be aware that there may be an increased risk of emotional or behavioral problem later in life so they must be vigilant in monitoring their child and give the best and right intervention for their child.
So, if you have noticed odd behavior of your children, it is better to seek advice to your pediatrician and the pediatrician may be referred you to the specialist such as development behavioral pediatrician.