Posture During Head Turning in Pre-Term Infants: A Longitudinal Study of 15 Low-Risk Infants of 32-36 Weeks of Conceptional Age

J. S. H. Vles; R. van Oostenbrugge; H. Kingma; H. Caberg; P. Casaer

doi:10.1055/s-2008-1071260

Neuropediatrics, Table of Contents

Neuropediatrics 1989; 20(1): 25-29
DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1071260

Original article

Posture During Head Turning in Pre-Term Infants: A Longitudinal Study of 15 Low-Risk Infants of 32-36 Weeks of Conceptional Age

J. S. H. Vles¹ , R. van Oostenbrugge¹ , H. Kingma² , H. Caberg³ , P. Casaer⁴

¹Department of Neurology, University Hospital Maastricht, University of Limburg, P.O. Box 1918, 6201 BX Maastricht, The Netherlands
²Department of E.N.T., University Hospital Maastricht, University of Limburg, P.O. Box 1918, 6201 BX Maastricht, The Netherlands
³Department of Neurophysiology, University Hospital Maastricht, University of Limburg, P.O. Box 1918, 6201 BX Maastricht, The Netherlands
⁴Department of Pediatrics and Neonatal Medicine, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium

Abstract

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Abstract

As part of a longitudinal study of spontaneous behaviour from 32-36 weeks of conceptional age, body posture was studied during spontaneous head movements in 15 low-risk pre-term infants. At the moment of an active head position in the midline, the most frequently observed posture was a symmetrical one in which the arms were fully flexed and the legs partly extended. With regard to the arm position no clearly developmental trend was noted. With regard to the leg position an increase of the partly flexed position of the limbs related to conceptional age was found. The observed postures during activity in our study showed a cephalocaudal acquisition of flexor tone. A symmetrical posture, when the head is in the midline, may be a sign of normality in pre-term infants.

Key words

Body posture - Pre-Term Infants

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