I don't know if this should be in the Pediatric forum vs. here but I suppose it can be moved if need be.
I did my senior clinical preceptorship in a Level III NICU six years ago. At the time I thought (erroneously) that neonatology was my passion. Anyway...
I saw a handful of full term babies who suffered some sort of anoxic event during labor and delivery and thus were left presumably neurologically devastated. A few of them had head cooling done at another facility and were in our NICU (it was strictly a surgical NICU and everyone was from an OSH as there were no deliveries there) to have G-tubes placed and then monitored while on them.
These babies were chubby beautiful babies who appeared no different from the average newborn. They weren't the 26 weekers developing NEC or the babies with congenital heart defects. Those babies had rough roads but once they got over their "humps," had somewhat predictable courses.
As for the neurologically devastated full termers, what happens to them? I mean, do they usually end up at home with round the clock care, or go to a facility, or maybe *do* improve? I always wondered about their followups. One neonatologist had commented that "we just now have a cohort of 20 somethings who suffered these anoxic injuries...before them, these babies weren't saved" but he didn't know much about their care or prognosis.
Just an adult medsurg nurse...wondering!
Thanks in advance, folks!