This document discusses infancy development from birth to 2 weeks old. It notes that infancy is the shortest developmental period but involves major adjustments as the fetus transitions to life outside the womb. Factors like type of birth, prenatal environment, gestation period, and parental care all affect this adjustment period and can pose physical or psychological hazards. The document outlines characteristics of newborns and the physiological changes they undergo like temperature regulation, breathing, sucking, and elimination.

1. Infancy
Dr. Ishitha E.K.

2. Characteristics of infancy
• Is the shortest of all developmental periods
• Begins with birth and ends when the infant is 2 weeks old
• It is the time when the fetus must adjust to the life outside the
uterine walls of the mother where it has lived for approximately nine
months
• Time of radical adjustments
• Hazardous period

3. Subdivisions of infancy
Period of Partunate Period of neonate
Before cutting umblical code after cutting umblical code-
birth-15mins 2weeks

4. How Birth Affects Postnatal Development
• Type of birth: Generally there are five different types of birth:
• Natural or spontaneous birth: The position of fetus and the size of
fetus make it possible for the fetus to emerge head first.

5. • Instrument birth: If the fetus is too large to emerge from the mother’s
body spontaneously or its positioning the uterus is such that it makes
normal birth impossible, then surgical instruments must be used to
aid ion delivery.

6. • Breech birth: The fetus buttocks appear first, followed by legs and
arms and finally the head. If the position cannot be changed before
the birth begins instruments must be used to aid in delivery.

7. • Transverse-Presentation birth: The fetus lies crosswise in the uterus. If
this position can not be changed instruments must be used to aid in
delivery.

8. • Caesarean-Section birth: When the fetal body becomes too large to
pass through the birth canal without a prolonged and a difficult labor,
even when instruments are used, the fetus is delivered surgically by
making a slit in the maternal abdominal wall.

9. • Medication of the mother: The more the medication before and
during childbirth, the longer and more difficult the infant’s
adjustment to postnatal life. The effects vary according to the type,
amount and the timing of the medication. It affects breast feeding
and the infants loose more weight
• Prenatal environment: Many childbirth complications have been
traced to prenatal environment. The unfavorable prenatal conditions
usually persist after birth and manifest in various adjustment
difficulties such as feeding problems, gastrointestinal dysfunction,
sleep problems, hyperactivity and irritability

10. • Length of gestation period: The average length of gestation period is
38 weeks or 266 days, very few infants arrive in this period. Those
who arrive late are called “Postmatures” and those who arrive early
are called “Prematures”. Premature infants usually experience
difficulty in adjusting to their postnatal life whereas postmature
infants adjust more quickly and successfully to the postnatal life, even
better than full term infants.
• Postnatal care: The type of care received in the early days following
birth affects postnatal development. Nutrition, breast feeding,
healthy and safe environment, love and affection do affect the infant.
• Attitude of the parents: Whether the child is being received positively
or negatively, affects postnatal development of infant. If the parents
welcome the child unconditionally then the child develops into a
physically and psychologically healthy individual.

11. ADJUSTMENTS DURING INFANCY
• Temperature changes: There is a constant temperature of 100 degree F in
the uterine sac, while temperature in the hospital or home may vary from
60 to 70 degree F.
• Breathing: When the umbilical cord is cut, infant must begin to breathe on
its own
• Sucking and Swallowing: The infant must now get nourishment by sucking
and swallowing, instead of receiving it through the umbilical cord. These
reflexes are imperfectly developed at birth, and the infant often gets less
nourishment than is needed and thus loses weight.
• Elimination: The infant’s organs of elimination begin to work soon after
birth. Earlier, the waste products were eliminated through the umbilical
cord.

12. Characteristics of the infant
• Physical development
• Size: at birth the average infant weighs 7 ½ pounds (3-4 kg) and
measures 19 ½ inches in length
• Boys slightly longer and heavier than girls
• Muscle-soft small uncontrolled flexible
• Neck and legs less development
• Head is ¼ th of the body
• Cranial is larger chin is smaller
• Eyes mature nose flat mouth tiny like a slit

13. • Physiological features
• Newborn with the birth cry begins to carry on respiration 40-45
breathing movement
• Sleep more
• Sucking movements occur when hungry or lips are touched- obtain
nutrients, digest nutrients, excrete wastes, regulate body
temperature, and make cardiovascular adjustments

14. • Infant active as fetus are most active as new born, a long and difficult
labour or heavy medication of mother can cause the infant to be relatively
inactive for the first few days
• Crying varies in pitch intensity
• Sense organs- eye and ears least developed, smell, taste and touch are
developed
• Consiousness- underdeveloped
• Capacity to learn- conditioned responses are difficult
• Emotion intense and sudden
• Personality-differences are reflected in the activities and sensitivities- to
food, crying, motor activities and sleep- number of factors effect the
personality heredity and environment, prenatal environment, birth trauma,
parents attitude etc.

15. HAZARDS DURING INFANCY PERIOD
• Physical hazards
• Unfavourable prenatal environment- smoking, medication, maternal
stress
• Complication at the time of birth-
• child getting physically injured
• caesarean birth is likely to result in anoxia, a temporary loss of oxygen to the
brain-brain damage will be far greater than if anoxia lasts for only a few
seconds.
• The more complicated the birth and the more damage there is to the brain
tissue, greater will be the effect on the infant’s postnatal life and adjustment.
• The use of too much medicine at the time of birth may lead to a serious
complication

16. • Multiple births:
• Children of multiple births are usually smaller and weaker than singletons
• infants tend to be born pre mature, which adds to their adjustment problems.
• Post maturity:
• If the size of fetus is large then at the time of birth, there may be a need to use
instruments or surgery which becomes hazardous to the infant.
• Critical conditions of birth may create a hazard for the infant.
• Pre maturity:
• The condition of pre maturity may at times be the cause of death of the infant.
• Prematurely born infants are also especially susceptible to brain damage.
• Long term effect-physical development and healt, developmental lag, sensory
behavior (high sensitivity to noise), speech development, low intelligence,
socialization, emotional behavior, deviant behaviour
• Infant mortality: risk is higher

17. Psychological hazards
• Traditional beliefs about birth:
• There are many traditional beliefs associated with birth
• For e.g. some people believe that those children born with difficult births, have difficult life
situation. Some believe that there is some good time or event during the birth
• Helplessness:
• Helplessness is another struggle for the infant in outer world.
• At the time of birth infants are in hospital and under the care of many doctors and nurses.
The helplessness of the newborn is more of a psychological hazard in the case of first born
children than of later-born children.
• Developmental lag
• Attitude of parents:
• The attitude of the parents may be changed at the time of birth.
• attitude toward the infant such as gender preferences, excessive crying and difficulty in
nourishment, complication at the time of birth and unexpected arrival of twins and triplets.
Parental depression