Page 78 - What to Expect

Glossary

Blood transfusion: A procedure for replenishing (topping up) the baby’s
blood with adult donor blood.
Bonding: Establishing a close relationship between a parent and child.

Bronchial tubes: The tubes that lead from the windpipe (trachea) to the
lungs.

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD): BPD is a lung disease that affects
newborn babies. In most cases BPD occurs in babies who are born
prematurely and have required extra oxygen and/or a ventilator, up to and
after 28 days of life, to treat their original lung problem. In many cases, the
symptoms of BPD disappear quite rapidly. Some babies with BPD may have
breathing difficulties for many months or years.
Bradycardia: An abnormally slow heart rate measured by beats per
minute. A foetal or neonate heart beat rate of less than 100 beats per
minute is abnormally slow. Normal foetal heart rate is 120 - 160. Neonate’s
heart rate averages 140 beats per minute.

Breast pump: A device either hand or electrically operated to extract
breast milk.
C

Caffeine: A medication given to babies that helps them to remember to
breathe.
Candida: See Thrush.

Capillaries: Very small blood vessels which remove waste from, and
provide oxygen and nutrients to, body cells.

Carbon dioxide (CO2): Gaseous bodily waste product transported via the
bloodstream and exhaled by the lungs.

CAT scanner or CT scanner (computerised axial tomography): A
computer-controlled x-ray machine capable of capturing cross-section
images of body tissues.

Catheter: A tube used to put fluid into the baby’s body, or to drain the
excessive fluids from the body.

Cerebral: Applying to the structure and functions of the brain.
Chest tube (CT): A tube that has been surgically inserted in the chest wall
to suction away air and allow a collapsed lung to re-expand.

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