Why I want to become a neonatologist by Aadhya Battineni

Neonatology in itself is the study of new born children especially those who have underdeveloped organs or are prematurely born. The term neonatology was made in 1960 soon after the coining of the term many pediatricians switched to the field. In this I will talk about advances and my personal connection to neonatology.

There have been numerous advances in this delicate field. The most fascinating by far is the artificial womb. The standard gestation period is 40 weeks nonetheless 30,000 infants per month are born under 26 weeks, so how do we facilitate their development outside of their previously known home, the womb? Researchers report that an artificial womb, which was tested on eight lambs and was successful, will work with premature babies too.

When I was born I had severe jaundice, the doctors did not seem hopeful. Now there is a more commonly used approach to help treat jaundice and that is Phototherapy. You place an infant in the base of an incubator and surround them in fluorescent light, then this creates an increase in their bilirubin and leaves the body through waste.

My sister was a premature baby. I remember walking into the hospital excited to see her and she had wires connected from her body to a machine, I was scared because I thought she was going to die. The doctors took good care of her and now she is healthy and energetic. This is the reason I want to become a neonatologist.

No mother wants their baby to be born with a risk on their life, but we all can’t get what we want. I want to make the future of medicine be able to improve the odds of premature babies surviving even higher, the future depends on us.

Thanks