Babies born premature are at risk for neurodevelopment impairments and brain injury. Young babies with brain injury show typical, clinically correlated, neuro-motor signs, reflecting neural abnormalities long before they are fully pronounced. Early detection and intervention is crucial, especially during peak expression of Cortical Sub Plate, as it may minimize neurologic and functional deficits. Training in water has been found to benefit baby health, being based on their physical properties and physiological outcomes on body functions. Hence NIA (Neural Infant Aquatics) modified for young premature babies may advance brain development.
The objective of this research is to examine, in water and on land, the power of NIA on the neural development of preterm babies.
Effect of NIA on the neural development of preterm babies is defined by comparing developmental indexes of babies who receive NIA with those of infants who do not. 50 babies are video recorded in water and on land, to assess their neural development according to prevalence of early neuromotor signs.
Our results show significant improvement in developmental tracks of babies receiving NIA compared to babies who did not. i.e., delta in developmental tracks, between before and after early intervention, is ~40% higher when babies receive NIA as observed without NIA. Mechanism of early intervention will be discussed.
Conclusions: (1) NIA for young premature babies may be safely applied and regarded as a suitable rehabilitation approach. (2) Early initiation of NIA, during pick activity of cortical sub plate, may be beneficial for development of preterm babies.
I have obtained patient and/or Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, as necessary.
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© 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.
