Final answer:
Monitoring the newborn's Hematocrit (Hct) is vital to assess for anemia, ensuring the infant has enough red blood cells for adequate oxygenation and overall health. It helps maintain homeostasis and checks that the infant is properly hydrated.
Step-by-step explanation:
It is important to watch the newborn's Hematocrit (Hct) to assess for anemia, as it is a measure of the percentage of red blood cells in a newborn's blood. Newborns can be susceptible to anemia due to various reasons, including poor stores at birth, particularly in cases of premature or twin pregnancies.
Monitoring the Hct value helps in determining whether the newborn has an appropriate level of red blood cells to supply enough oxygen throughout the body. This is crucial for the newborn's health, growth, and development. During the neonatal phase, kidneys are still maturing, and infants often produce very dilute urine due to their immature and inefficient kidneys.
Therefore, proper hydration, typically from breast milk or formula, is essential to avoid dehydration, and the monitoring of Hct as part of regular health assessments helps in ensuring newborns are receiving appropriate fluid intake and maintaining homeostasis.