Family health A-Z - N

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Also known as: Birthmark

A coloured mark that forms on, or just below, the surface of the skin, and is either present at birth or appears soon after. The medical term for a birthmark is a naevus.

A private childminder who care for children in the family home and usually lives in.

A red rash affecting the area under and around a baby’s nappy, caused by the irritation of the chemical ammonia in urine. Treated and prevented by use of a barrier cream.

Childbirth without pain relieving medication

Also known as: Umbilical cord

A tube which connects the placenta to the fetus, and which contains two arteries and a vein for the exchange of nutrient- and oxygen-rich blood.

Also known as: Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU)’

A specialist care unit for newborns who are seriously ill or premature. Also known as Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

The urge to prepare the home for the arrival of a newborn – usually strongest in late pregnancy.

Also known as: Hives

Also known as ‘nettle rash’ or by the medical term ‘urticaria’, hives is a red, lumpy, itchy rash (similar to that caused stinging nettles), and is caused by an allergic reaction to certain foods - or sometimes by a viral infection.

A tube of tissue in an embryo from which the brain and spinal cord develop.

Also known as: Special Care Baby Unit’

A specialist care unit for newborns who are seriously ill or premature. Also known as Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

A sleep disturbance, commonest in young children, where the child appears to be awake and frightened or upset, but is incoherent and remains, in fact, in a deep sleep state. Night terrors can be caused by underlying anxiety, stress or over-tiredness. The best action to take is to soothe the child back into peaceful sleep without trying to wake him.

Also known as: Headlice

Minute, grey-brown, wingless insects which live on blood sucked from the scalp of humans. Their eggs, which look like tiny white specks similar to scurf, are known as nits and they are laid close to the scalp all along the hairline, and stuck fast with a sticky substance produced by the lice. The medical term for an infestation of head lice -particularly prevalent in schoolchildren - is ‘pediculosis’.

Bedwetting that occurs during the night, when a child is unaware that it is happening or has happened. A common occurrence during toilet training as the child gradually learns bladder control, and isolated incidents are not uncommon up to the age of eight.

Generally only performed in high-risk or over due pregnancies, this test is a way of measuring a baby’s responses to stimuli by tracking its movements and observing its heart rate via ultrasound. This indicates whether or not the baby is getting a good supply of oxygen, and if the nervous system is functioning normally.

Occasional bleeds from the lower part of the nose caused by the rupture of a capillary. Commonly caused by injury, dryness inside the nose, colds, high altitude and allergies. Treatment is to sit the child up straight and pinch the nostrils firmly together for 10 or more minutes until the bleeding stops. Heavier nosebleeds occurring higher up the nose and leaching into the throat need medical attention.

The measurement, taken via ultrasound scan at 10-14 weeks of pregnancy, of the collection of fluid under the skin at the back of a baby's neck. The scan is used as a screening test for Down’s syndrome

A registered and regulated institution offering day care to infants and children up to school age.

A registered and regulated school for children from age three to starting school, with trained teachers, nursery nurses and classroom assistants. Nurseries may be state run or private. Nursery schools are independent of other schools, although they may feed on to specific local schools.