Page 76 - What to Expect

Glossary

Glossary

Below is a list of terms commonly used in the Unit. If you come across
additional terms used in relation to your baby, you may like to make a note
of them in the parent space pages.

A
Absorb: The body’s ability to take in, or incorporate back into the body,
fluid, or food.

Adjusted age: The term used to describe the age your baby would have
been if he was born full term. For example, for a baby born nine weeks
early at 31 weeks gestation; at nine months after his birth, his adjusted age
is seven months.
Alveoli: Tiny sacs in the lungs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are
exchanged with the bloodstream.
Anaesthetic: A drug for bringing on loss of sensation (and hence pain) in
many medical and surgical procedures. General anaesthetic (GA) produces
unconsciousness and is administered by a specially trained doctor called
an anaesthetist.

Antibiotics: Drugs used to fight off bacterial infection. They have names
like vancomycin and gentamicin.

Anaemia: The reduction to below normal levels of haemoglobin (red
blood cells) in the blood.

Aorta: The artery leading from the heart that supplies oxygenated blood
to the body.

Arterial blood gas (arterial sample): A sample of blood taken from an
artery to measure its oxygen, carbon dioxide, and acid content.

Arterial catheter (indwelling arterial catheter): A thin plastic tube
placed in an artery to withdraw blood for testing and to measure blood
pressure.
Artery: Any blood vessel leading away from the heart. Arteries carry
oxygenated blood to the body tissues (with the exception of the
pulmonary artery which carries non-oxygenated blood to the lungs from
the heart).

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