Understanding Low Birth Weight: Causes & Caring for Your Baby

Question
I am a man aged 26 my wife is 22, she recently gave birth to a Low birth weight baby of about 1,920kg. Right now she is still in a nursery. What are the causes of this problem and how best can I raise my child as I love her very much?

Thank you in advance

Answer
Hello Russell. The VERY best thing you and your wife need to do right now - is to make SURE your baby gets her breastmilk. She may not be able to suck yet, but she can be given the colostrum and milk through a tube. It is pure GOLD for your baby and gives her the best chance of remaining healthy. You need to be prepared to go to ANY lengths to get your wife's breastmilk into her. If your wife has not started to try to produce milk, get in touch with La Leche League- it is NOT too late to get the milk going. The causes of the low birth wt. could be any number of things. Most common is a placenta that was not functioning well- why? There may not be a good answer for that. Or, perhaps your wife's nutrition was poor, was she a smoker during the pregnancy, drank a lot of caffiene? You may  never know the answer as to why this happened- your job now is to feed her the best and love her lots. These babies do very well when the parents are allowed to snuggle them against their skin. Push for that as soon as possible. All the best- Cheri.