Final answer:
The key considerations in the care of SGA infants include encouraging breastfeeding, monitoring for jaundice and assessing motor development; promoting weight gain and checking for complications like polycythemia and hypothermia; and considering parental size as a significant factor.
Step-by-step explanation:
Key Considerations in the Care of Small for Gestational Age (SGA) Infants
When caring for Small for Gestational Age (SGA) infants, several key factors must be considered to ensure their healthy development and address potential complications that can arise from being underweight for their gestational age. Encouragement of breastfeeding is critical, as breast milk is the optimal source of nutrition for infants and provides numerous protective effects. Meanwhile, monitoring for jaundice, a common condition in newborns, is essential to prevent any serious complications. Assessment of motor development at various stages can help determine if the SGA infant is catching up or if further intervention might be necessary.
Promoting weight gain is another crucial aspect of care for SGA infants. This involves frequent monitoring and possibly supplementary feeding. It's also necessary to assess for complications like polycythemia, an abnormal increase in the number of red blood cells that can occur in these babies, and hypothermia, since they have a higher surface area-to-volume ratio and may lose heat quickly.
Parental size can also be a significant factor when determining the expected growth patterns and potential health outcomes for the infant. Hence, considering the size of the parents can provide context to whether the infant's SGA status is part of a familial pattern or if it's truly atypical.
Option B in the student's question best covers the aforementioned considerations with regards to the care of SGA infants.