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The first 28 days of life are called the newborn (neonatal) period.

The normal length of pregnancy is between 38 and 42 weeks. Babies with a gestational age of less than 37 weeks are called "premature babies." The chance of survival of premature babies varies according to gestational age. While the chance of survival is very low in extremely premature babies with a gestational age of 22-23 weeks, it is quite high in those with a gestational age of 34 weeks or more. However, a newborn baby's chance of survival depends not only on gestational age but also on the illnesses the baby experiences. The reason for the low chance of survival in extremely premature babies is that all organ systems are not sufficiently mature, structurally and functionally, and the serious diseases that develop as a result.

The average birth weight of a full-term newborn is 3200-3500 g. Birth weight increases in direct proportion to gestational age. Newborns with a birth weight between 1500 and 2500 g are called "low birth weight babies," babies between 1000 and 1499 g are called "very low birth weight babies," and babies under 1000 g are called "extremely low birth weight babies." Almost all very low and extremely low birth weight babies are premature babies who also have a small gestational age.

Changes in body temperature in a newborn baby (body temperature below 36.5 C or fever), decreased sucking, decreased activity, sleepiness, seizures (stiffening of the arms and legs, jerking movements, trembling, abnormal sucking and swallowing movements), bluish discoloration, breathing pauses, rapid breathing, labored breathing, cough, rapid heartbeat (>200/min), vomiting, abdominal swelling, diarrhea or no bowel movement for more than 2 days, jaundice, bleeding from any site and failure to gain enough weight may be symptoms and signs of a serious illness.

The most common conditions seen in the newborn period are neonatal jaundice (indirect hyperbilirubinemia), infectious diseases such as sepsis (a severe infection resulting from bacteria entering the blood), pneumonia, omphalitis (umbilical cord infection) and urinary tract infections, respiratory distress syndrome (respiratory failure seen in premature babies), meconium aspiration syndrome, necrotizing enterocolitis and various congenital anomalies.

In premature babies, all organ systems are not fully developed structurally and functionally (immaturity) and they are not ready to live in the outside environment. The smaller the gestational age of a premature baby, the greater this immaturity. For this reason, serious diseases involving all systems can develop. The most important diseases are brain hemorrhage, injury to the region of the brain called the white matter, respiratory distress syndrome (due to incompletely developed lungs), necrotizing enterocolitis (due to incompletely developed intestines), sepsis (blood infection), retinopathy of prematurity (vision loss), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (chronic lung disease of prematurity) and neurodevelopmental delay.

Neonatal jaundice is one of the most common conditions in newborns in our country. Jaundice develops when a substance called indirect or direct bilirubin rises too high in the blood. Neonatal jaundice is divided into physiological and pathological jaundice. Physiological jaundice is completely normal and is due to the fact that many organ systems of the newborn baby are not sufficiently mature. In pathological jaundice, there is usually an underlying disease that can cause jaundice. The most important of these diseases are blood group incompatibility between mother and baby, and infections. Neonatal jaundice can easily be treated with phototherapy (light therapy) or exchange transfusion. However, in newborn babies with very high blood bilirubin levels, or who cannot be treated in time, brain injury of varying degrees and permanent neurological sequelae may develop.