Improving Development & Motor Skills in Children with Congenital Cardiac Complications

If your child suffers from a complication associated with congenital cardiac defect, it is important to understand the long term impact the cardiac complication will have. While you may know, well, the complications attributed to health complications, your child may also be at risk for developmental risks.

Cardiac complications in children occur as often as eight out of every 1,000 live births. While many of these cardiac complications require no further medical intervention, there are some children who require surgery and suffer from long term health complications. Early in childhood, often right after birth, a child with a congenital cardiac complication will begin to undergo extensive health management so as to prevent long term health complications, to some extent.

All children require some form of physical activity. Unfortunately, the child with a congenital cardiac complication may find physical activity to be quite restricted. As a result, there is a greater likelihood the pediatrician. Because physical activity is quite limited, there may be a need for structured physical and occupational therapy programs as a way to promote health and improve mobility. For children who are hospitalized on a rather frequent basis, because of a cardiac complication, the hospital staff should supply some form of physical therapy to your child while they are hospitalized.

Finding creative ways in which to encourage your child to engage in physical activity is important. Your child needs movement and, often, that movement will need to be closely supervised. As a parent, you can obtain the training in specialized movement activity through a pediatric physical therapist.