Page 85 - What to Expect

Glossary

Retina: The back of the eye where blood vessels supplying the light-
sensitive cells are located.
Room air: The air that we normally breathe (contains 21% oxygen).

Rooming in: The time when you stay overnight at the hospital and have
total care of your baby just prior to coming home.

S
Sedation: The use of a drug which will quieten the baby down, promoting
less movement and a placid state of being. This is sometimes done to
babies who are being ventilated, so they don’t fight the ventilator and
become more stressed.
Septicaemia: An infection in the bloodstream affecting the whole body.

Shunt: A passage made artificially, between two areas of the body, usually
placed to drain liquid.

SGA (small for gestation age or small for dates): Babies born weighing a
lot less than other babies of the same gestation at birth.
Squint or Strabismus: A condition in which the eye muscles can’t hold
both eyes to look in the same direction. This gives a cross-eyed look which
is more noticeable when the person is tired.

Sterile: Free from contamination by living microbes (bugs).
Steroids: (1) A large group of chemically related compounds of diverse
origin and function. Those related to cortisol from the adrenal gland can
help to mature the lungs of a foetus before birth. (2) Used to reduce lung
swelling in BPD.
Stimulation: (1) Developmental encouragement given to a baby, either
by talking, singing, reading or having things to look at. (2) Physical
encouragement to continue breathing, such as tickling or a gentle prod
when an apnoea occurs.

Supplementary: In addition to. Usually refers to adding vitamins and
minerals to the baby’s diet, or complementing breast with milk formula
feeding.

Suture: (1) Stitches for holding together surgical incisions. (2) Lines in a
baby’s skull.

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