Dr.Ambrose Igwe Daniel

02/01/2026

◾️CIRCADIAN RHYTHM.

Your circadian rhythm is a kind of natural 24-hour neuro-hormonal clock, installed within your body. It's what you call your biological clock.

It determines and controls the physical, mental, and behavioural changes that your body goes through in 24-hour cycles.

This biological clock is composed of proteins that are encoded by thousands of genes that switch on and off in your DNA, following a specific protocol.

Some of the events within your body effectively controlled by your circadian rhythm include-

▪️Your sleep-wake patterns.
This explains why once it's a certain time of the night you begin to feel sleepy, sometimes, even after awaking from a nap earlier.

▪️Hormonal releases within your body. eg the daily release of menstrual hormones for the maturation of eggs in your ovaries, daily releases of growth hormones, especially in children, etc.

▪️Hunger and satiety.
Generally controls your appetite.
This is why you often feel hungry at a certain time of the day.

Your circadian rhythm also plays significant roles in enabling digestion.

▪️Body Temperature patterns.
Temperature regulation is a very crucial part of your body's daily function. A whole lot of other activities within your body depend on it.

Light and Dark significantly impact the functioning of your circadian rhythm.

This is why the effects of your circadian rhythm seem to be stronger or expressed more in activities related to day and night- particularly your sleep-wake cycles.

In our next post, we shall talk about how your circadian rhythm works.

Stay tuned...

02/01/2026

HOW TO PREVENT LOW BIRTH WEIGHT.

To prevent having a low birth weight baby, you must pay attention to these:

● Ensure adequate management of any health conditions you may have, e.g hypertension, diabetes.

● Maintain a healthy weight.
You must ensure you're gaining weight appropriately during pregnancy.

Your weight gain is an indication your baby is gaining weight.

Pregnancy is not the time to watch your weight.

● Keep your sugar levels controlled if you have diabetes.

● Never miss your prenatal /antenatal care appointments.

● Avoid alcohol, ci******es, and any other recreational drug during pregnancy.

● Reduce your stress during pregnancy.

More on Your Health in PREGNANCY🤰
Stay tuned...

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31/12/2025

HOME CARE FOR LOW BIRTH WEIGHT BABIES.

Before your discharge from the hospital, ask your doctor about how you should care for your baby at home.

Ask about what you can do to help your baby gain weight.
Make no assumptions about anything.

Here are a few things you can do at home to ensure adequate care for your low birth weight baby.

🔹️Maintain a warm environment.
Keep your baby's room warm. Temperature should be between 28-30⁰C

🔹️Continue kangaroo care like you were taught at rhe hospital. Kangaroo care involves frequent skin-to-skin contact with your baby. It helps to keep them warm, and calm.

🔹️Ensure your baby is always adequately covered. You can use multiple layers of clothing. Add socks, head covers, blankets, etc.

🔹️Ensure adequate and frequent Feeding.
Wake your baby up to feed. Wake them up to feed no matter how sleepy.

Your baby should feed every 2-3 hours.
Use any specific formulas recommended by your pediatrician.

Avoid bottle feeding at the onset. Use cup feeding until the baby's suckle, swallow, and breathing reflexes are better coordinated.

Exclusive breastfeeding is the best. During exclusive breastfeeding, your baby gets only breast milk for at least their first 6 months.

🔹️Follow Strict Hygiene protocols.
Limit visitors. This will reduce exposure to germs that cause illness.
● Anyone who has an illness should not visit.
● Anyone who must touch the baby should wash their hands thoroughly.

🔹️Delay full body baths.
Do sponge baths and massage, with warm water.
Avoid irritants in the baby's eyes, ears, or nose.

🔹️Ensure the baby gets all their vaccinations according to schedule. This will provide protection from frequent illnesses.

🔹️Keep all their doctors appointments.
Regular check-ups are important for early detection of any long-term problems associated with low birth weight.

🔹️Keep your baby's environment quiet, and use low lights. This helps to avoid overstimulaton of your baby.

More on Your Health in PREGNANCY🤰
Stay tuned...

♥️

30/12/2025

TREATMENT FOR LOW BIRTH WEIGHT BABIES.

The level of care which a low birth weight baby requires generally depends on how low the birth weight is, and what symptoms they present at birth.

Some low birth weight babies may not present any problems at birth, but may develop complications later in life.

Management, therefore, focuses on providing immediate emergency care at birth, managing complications, and providing long-term support.

INTERVENTIONS AT BIRTH.

✔️NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (NICU).
NICU is a specialized unit at the children's hospital designed to provide advanced life support for newly born babies with severe complications.

It is equipped with advanced technology and a multidisciplinary team with specialized training to ensure close and continuous monitoring of vital signs and other indicators of life.

✔️ TEMPERATURE CONTROL.
Low birth weight babies may have hypothermia (very low body temperature).
The NICU is equipped with incubators or special beds that help the baby maintain optimal temperature.

✔️NUTRITION.
Low birth weight babies may have poor suckle reflexes or inability to feed at birth.

They may thus require high calorie breast milk or formular given through a nasogastric tube (a feeding tube passed through the baby's nose into the stomach), or intravenously (through the baby's veins).

✔️KANGAROO CARE.
Another type of technique for keeping the baby warm. It involves skin-to-skin contact with a parent and helps to stabilize the baby's breathing, and heart rates.
It also fosters bonding between parent and child.

✔️MANAGEMENT of COMPLICATIONS.
This includes-

● Treating any infections with antibiotics, and strict hygiene.
● Provide breathing support for babies with respiratory and heart problems.
Oxygen therapy and medications to support heart function may be required.
● Treat Jaundice.
This refers to a yellowing of the body, and white of the eyes. Jaundice is managed with ultraviolet light (UV- light), and in severe cases exchange blood transfusion (EBT).

EBT is a special type of blood transfusion during which your baby's blood is removed and replaced with a donor blood, to reduce bilirubin levels.
● Correct Low blood sugar.
This is achieved with sugar infusions.

More on Low Birth Weight.
Stay tuned...

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29/12/2025

HOW LOW BIRTH WEIGHT IS DIAGNOSED

The monitoring of your baby's weight begins from way before the baby is born.

During your antenatal/ prenatal visits, your baby's estimated weight will be determined by your doctor through-

~ Measurements of your own weight gain.
As a sign of health for your baby, a pregnant woman is expected to gain a certain amount of weight at various stages of her pregnancy.

If the mother is not gaining the appropriate amount of weight per trimester of pregnancy, the baby is likely also not doing well.

~ Fundal Height.
Fundal height refers to the distance from the top of your uterus (your baby bump) to your p***c bone (you can feel your p***c bone just below your bladder in your lower abdomen).

This distance should increase as the pregnancy progresses.

From 20 weeks of pregnancy, the fundal height should begin to correspond with the age of the pregnancy.

For instance, at 26 weeks of pregnancy, the fundal height is expected to be around 26cm.

If the fundal height is declining or not increasing comensurately with the age of the pregnancy, the baby is probably not doing well.

~ Ultrasound Scan.
The ultrasound scan is a very valuable tool for the assessment of many aspects of fetal health.

During your visits, your doctor will use this scan to measure various dimensions of your baby's body parts to determine optimal growth and appropriate weight gain.

~ After Delivery.
A definitive diagnosis of low birth weight is made at birth. Within the minutes to hours after birth, your baby's weight will be measured on a scale, and compared to the age of pregnancy at which you delivered the baby.

Low Birth Weight is categorized thus-

🔸️ Low Birth Weight=
Any weight below 2.5 kilograms (2500 grams), or 5 pounds, or 8 ounces.

🔸️Very Low Birth Weight=
Birth weight below 1.5 kilograms (1500 grams), or 3 pounds, or 5 ounces.

🔸️Extremely Low Birth Weigth =
Birth weight below 1 kilograms (1000 grams), or 2 pounds, or 3 ounces.

More on Low Birth Weight.
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26/12/2025

LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT.

Low birth weight, as we have said in previous posts, refers to any weight below 2.5 kg (2500 grams, or 5 pounds, or 8 ounces) at birth.

Previously, we discussed some of the complications that low weight babies have at birth.
Please see page for details.

Some low weight babies do not have any problems at birth, but develop several health conditions later in their lives.

Below are some long-term effects of low birth weight-

🔸️Cognitive impairments.
The child may develop intellectual disabilities, learning difficulties, and poor attention like in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

🔸️Motor deficits.
This refers to problems with coordination of movement and balance, like seen in Cerebral Palsy and other neuromuscular diseases that affect voluntary muscle control.

These problems often manifest in development delays.

🔸️Sensory deficits.
Some children may have poor development of their sensory organs, and may manifest as blindness, deafness, etc.

🔸️Their growth may be generally slower than other kids the same age.

🔸️They're often at risk of developing chronic diseases like hypertension, heart diseases, diabetes, obesity, or metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome refers to when someone has high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high blood cholesterol at the same time. It significantly increases their risk of cardiovascular disease.

🔸️Low birth weight kids may later in life experience recurrent respiratory illnesses.

🔸️They're at higher risk of mental health illnesses like anxiety, depression, and behavioural problems- e.g poor social interactions.

These problems are often as severe as how low the birth weight was. I.e the lower the birth weight, the higher the risk of long-term complications and their severity.

By implication it means the lower the birth weight, the more underdeveloped the organs of the body would be. That increases the risk of malfunction earlier or later in life.

The negative impacts of low birth weight revolve around lower cell numbers in the organs, and poor gene expressions. The consequence is long-term vulnerability to illnesses.

More on Low Birth Weight.
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25/12/2025

HOW LOW BIRTH WEIGHT AFFECTS YOUR BABY.

Several problems are associated with low birth weight. Some of these complications are immediate (at birth). Some are long-term (later in life).

Low Birth weight babies are often not as strong, both physically and in terms of organ function, as normal weight babies.

The hallmark of their problems arise mainly from underdeveloped organs and systems within their body. If an organ is not fully developed, it may not function optimally.

Some of the problems a low birth weight baby might experience at birth include-

▪️Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).
This is probably the most common problem associated with low birth weight babies and prematurity.

The lungs are not fully developed and lack a substance called surfactant. The result is breathing difficulty at birth.

▪️Hypothermia.
Hypothermia refers to body temperatures below normal.
Low weight babies have very little body fat. This makes it difficult for them to retain body heat, and stay warm.

▪️Jaundice.
Jaundice often manifests as yellowing of the skin and eyes of the baby.
The problem here is an immature liver which is unable to remove Bilirubin (the protein that causes the yellowness) from the blood.

The accumulation of bilirubin due to an immature liver is the cause of Jaundice in low weight or premature babies.

▪️Hypoglycemia.
Low blood sugar levels.

Energy demands in a new born are very high. The low fat deposits and immature liver of low birth weight babies make it difficult for them to keep up with their body's energy demands.

▪️Feeding Difficulties.
They often have week reflexes, including the suckling and swallowing reflexes which are important for a baby to feed at birth.

This weekness is largely due to hypoglycemia or low energy supply.

▪️Bleeding in the Brain.
This is because their underdeveloped blood vessels, especially in the brain are fragile and can rupture easily.

▪️Infection.
A week immune system makes it easy for infection causing organisms to enter their body.

▪️Necrotizing Enterocolitis.
A dangerous type of infection that causes the cells of the intestine to die and begin to rotten inside.

▪️Patent Ductus Arteriosus.
A fetal blood vessel in the heart that should close up at birth, but stays open, leading to several heart problems and poor oxygen delivery to the baby.

▪️Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Some low birth weight babies die suddenly, shortly after birth.

Sometimes because the degree of underdevelopement of their organs is not compartible with life.

More on Low Birth Weight.
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24/12/2025

RISK FACTORS FOR LOW BIRTH WEIGHT.

Low Birth Weight refers to any weight below 2.5 kg (2500 grams, or 5 pounds, or 8 ounces) at birth.
Pleases see previous posts for details.

Several factors increase the likelihood that a baby will be low weight at birth.

They range from problems with the health of the mother, and problems related to the fetus or the pregnancy, to lifestyle and environmental factors, and Socioeconomic class.

Some of these factors lead to low birth weight by directly or indirectly reducing the availability or supply of nutrients to the growing fetus.

Some do so by causing early onset of labor and delivery. Prematurity is a major cause of low birth weight.

MATERNAL FACTORS.

🔹️When maternal age is below 17, or above 35 years.
🔹️Maternal infections, e.g pelvic infections, urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted infections, malaria.
🔹️Chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, especially when they're not adequately controlled.
🔹️Poor nutrition. A poor diet will lead to inadequate weight gain, and anemia in pregnancy, which are recipes for a low birth weight baby.
🔹️A previous history of low birth weight.
🔹️Lack of adequate child spacing. This means you're not giving enough time or space between pregnancies. This takes a toll on successive pregnancies and even your health as mother.
🔹️Excessive maternal stress, including all forms of domestic abuse/violence.

FETAL AND PREGNANCY RELATED FACTORS.

● Multiple gestations.
This means you're having twins, triplets or more.
● Prematurity.
The baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy.
● Problems with the placenta or umbilical cord.
● Genetic or chromosomal abnormalities, congenital defects.

LIFESTYLE/ ENVIRONMENT.

🔸️Use of recreational drugs during pregnancy e.g smoking, alcohol consumption, and other illicit drugs.
🔸️ Excessive intake of caffeine during pregnancy.
🔸️ Exposure to toxic substances in the environment, like lead, bad air or air pollution, inhaling certain chemicals.

SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS

■ Poverty.
■ Poor education of the parents, both mother and father.
■ Poor access to healthcare.
■ Lack of skilled antenata/ prenatal care.
■ Late first antenatal/ prenatal visit.
You're starting antenatal/prenatal visits almost at the end of the pregnancy.
■ Inadequate intake of pregnancy vitamins.
■ Certain Races, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds are also risk factors.

More on Low Birth Weight.
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24/12/2025

23/12/2025

CAUSES OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT.

We defined Low Birth weight yesterday as any weight below 2.5 kg (2500 grams, or 5 pounds, or 8 ounces) at birth.

Please see post on our page for details.

Low birth weight results from 2 major factors-
~ Factors that slow down the growth of your baby in the womb, or
~ Factors that cause premature delivery.

The main causes of Low Birth Weigth therefore are-

▪️PRETERM BIRTH.
Preterm birth or prematurity means that your labor and delivery came earlier than 37weeks of pregnancy.

The implication is that your baby likely did not gain the full measure of its weight and size before birth, and is likely to weigh less.

The last few weeks before delivery day are probably the most crucial for your developing baby in the womb.

This is because your baby gains a significant amount of its weight during those last few days of pregnancy, before 37weeks.

▪️INTRAUTERINE GROWTH RESTRICTION (IUGR).

Also called Fetal Growth Restriction as we discussed earlier, means that your baby did not grow at the expected rate while in your womb, and therefore did not gain sufficient weight.

Some causes of intrauterine growth restriction include-

● Problems with the placenta or umbilical cord.
● Problems with your own health as mother, like other health conditions, e.g diabetes, Hypertension, infecrions, etc.
● Problems with the fetus, like genetic or chromosomal abnormalities.

Please check out this page for details on fetal growth restriction.

Like we said before, not every low birth weight or small baby has a problem. Some babies are naturally small because their parents are small.

More on Low Birth Weight,
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