The Neonatology Service of La Fe University Hospital joins a program that has been running for more than 20 years in the United States. Its about Follow Up follow-up program, which allows the neurological development of high-risk children to be more accurately calibrated, among which are babies of extreme prematurity (week 28 or less), or with some type of neurological pathology or cardiac risk.
The advantages of this program are obvious. Apart from the fact that it allows us to better understand the living conditions, school and emotional capacities that manifest themselves in more adult ages, it serves to provide a early detection of anomalies. Everything leads to more specialized care in cases where neonatal complications are recorded.
In this way, early therapies can be initiated to prevent pathologies from manifesting later. In the face of current programs, focused on the integral development of the child, Follow up It is more oriented to neurodevelopment, rehabilitation, and coordination between the different centers and specialists that follow the evolution of babies.
Another point that I found interesting about this program is that a record will be established in a large database. The base will be at the national level (Neosoft), so that it will help in the preparation of studies and the collection of data from the different hospitals in Spain and thus determine their morbidity, neurodevelopment or disability rates.
But, above all, this database will help to achieve more objective advice to families in situations of imminent preterm birth and more effective treatment once these babies with so many needs are born.
As we see, a follow-up program for at-risk babies like Follow Up, that it would seem logical that it was integrated in all hospitals for all the benefits that it entails, and there is still much to be extended. I imagine that it will be because of the economic and infrastructure implications that it needs, but hopefully its use will be extended little by little.
