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Reflex Moro in newborns
Last reviewed: 20.11.2021
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What are reflexes and why do they need a newborn baby? When the baby is in utero, the conditions for it there are quite favorable. But when a child is born, he needs to somehow adapt to environmental conditions. And reflexes help the child in this.
Reflex is the child's response to a certain irritation, which occurs with the involvement of neural connections of the spinal cord and brain. Therefore, an assessment of the adequacy of reflexes allows us to talk not only about the degree of adaptation of the child, but also about the state of his nervous system.
There are a lot of reflexes and all of them arise at a certain time and gradually fade if they are no longer needed. For example, the reflex swallowing occurs in the child immediately after birth and persists throughout life. And there are transitory ones, which disappear for a certain period of time. Reflex Moro refers to such reflexes.
This reflex refers to spinal reflexes, since it is activated at the level of the spinal cord. There are two ways to test this reflex. The first is as follows: you need to take the baby under the armpits and sharply lower down a short distance, then a few seconds back up. A normal reaction of the child is considered, if he at first stage spread his hands, and on the second reduced. Another method implies: when the child is lying on a horizontal surface on the back, it is necessary near his head on both sides to slap on the table. This should cause a corresponding reaction with two consecutive phases.
It is very important not only to assess whether there is a reflex or not, but you also need to pay attention to its characteristics. It is necessary to evaluate the strength of its expression, symmetry on both sides, how quickly it is called and disappears. There should be no change in the condition of the child, since the reflex check is an absolutely painless procedure. If the reflex is called, corresponds to the age, it is alive, symmetrical and identical on both sides, then everything is fine.
Since this is a transient reflex, it disappears. When does Moro reflex pass in the newborn? Under normal conditions, by the four months it must completely die out. If the reflex persists or appears after six months, you need to think about the defeat of the nervous system of a focal or systemic nature.
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