Babies who are born after 34 weeks gestation have the same long-term health outcomes as babies who are delivered at full term 40 weeks. In long-term follow-up, these infants do very well and usually are as healthy as non-preemies. On average, doctors recommend preemies stay in the NICU until three to four weeks before what their regular due date would have been. If we can work with you to delay your delivery by as little as one or two weeks, you baby will have a much higher chance of staying healthy as they grow.
Researchers and obstetricians have studied for years if women can do anything to prevent preterm labor. Because of this, no one intervention or treatment can prevent all preterm births.
Recent studies have shown that treatment with a hormone named progesterone can lower the rate of preterm birth by as much as 30—50 percent. Progesterone is a steroid hormone. Pregnant women naturally produce this hormone on their own. Some obstetricians prescribe corticosteroids to speed up lung development and prevent other complications in growing fetuses that are at risk of being born early.
When and how a fetus gets these corticosteroids in the womb is something that doctors determine on a case-by-case basis. Early evaluation and consultation in our clinic will help you start this process. Getting medical care early on in your pregnancy will reduce your chances of having a preterm birth. This is supported by increased reporting of sepsis confirmed by blood culture and necrotising enterocolitis as the primary cause of death in those surviving the first week.
The EPICure studies have also closely monitored the progress of those babies that survive to the point where they are able to leave hospital, and grow into toddlers, then older children, then adults: the cohort will now be aged In , Johnson et al. However, for the remaining 50 percent, the situation is much harder. The EPICure 2 study discussed levels of disability observed in children at the ages of two and three, and compared these findings to those from the cohort.
Here again, there is some really good news. In , there were few differences between babies born at 23, 24 or 25 weeks; in , babies born at 24 and 25 weeks now have better outcomes than those born at the threshold of viability. However, the contrast with babies born at weeks is stark: only a quarter of these extremely premature babies have no impairment at the age of three, and the same proportion has a severe impairment. This indicates that, as with survival rates, improvements in the care of extremely preterm babies have had most impact for those at the upper end of the extreme prematurity spectrum; for those of threshold viability, the prognosis remains very uncertain.
EPICure also points out that 'the proportion of babies who have the most serious problems is similar in in both studies and because the number of babies receiving care has risen that means that the number of children with problems related to their prematurity also has risen. This is very important information as services need to be planned to be able to provide the support that the children and… their parents, need. Improvements in neonatal care do not reduce the resources required to care for those children who have disabilities as a result of their prematurity; arguably, as more extremely pre-term babies survive, the need for specialised health, care, and educational resources will become greater.
Many countries, Britain included, impose legal 'time limits' on the gestation at which a fetus can be legally aborted. In Britain, this limit is 24 weeks: unless a serious fetal anomaly has been detected, or unless there is a risk of 'grave permanent injury' to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman, or to her life, in which case it is available up to term.
The argument that is often used to justify the week limit is that this is the point at which a fetus becomes 'viable'; therefore, it is treated by law more as a baby than a fetus. Ninety-nine per cent of all abortions in England and Wales take place at under 20 weeks' gestation. There are a number of problems with using ideas about viability as an argument against abortion. First, as noted above, the situation of a woman going into premature labour with a wanted pregnancy, and that of a woman needing an abortion in the second trimester, are very different.
By the same token, the status of a baby spontaneously arriving too early, and the status of a pregnancy that a woman is still carrying, are very different: legally, morally, and emotionally. The reasons why women need late abortions, and the other arguments marshalled against late abortion, is discussed in a separate briefing.
With regard to often-made media claims that the improved survival of extremely pre-term infants raises questions about the legal time limit for abortion, we should be clear that this is a politically-motivated argument that exploits our very human desire that very premature babies survive and thrive to make us equate abortion with 'killing' born babies.
Yet as the Guardian's Polly Toynbee wrote on 1 September , 'The date at which a fetus might be viable has nothing to do with a woman's right to choose. Some day an embryo might be reared in a test tube to full term, but that changes nothing for a woman's right not to be a mother.
Accidental pregnancy or change in circumstance once pregnant crosses all classes. Abortion is very, very ordinary and a mark of civilisation — liberty for women and every child wanted. In the process, they would deny abortion to the most desperate cases who leave it the latest — the very young or the middle aged who thought they had gone through the menopause. The callous politicisation of improvements in the survival of extremely premature babies is damaging to women who need abortions in the second trimester of pregnancy.
It is also damaging to the discussion about how we, as a society, best care for very premature infants. By talking up the extent to which survival of very premature babies has improved, and glossing over the actual statistics and the problems that these babies are likely to face, parents of extremely premature babies can be provided with false hope. Other factors that can affect the survival of very pre-term infants are often ignored. A girl is much more likely to survive than a boy, for instance, and the heavier the better.
If we can give parents an individualised chance of survival, we really would be getting somewhere. John Wyatt is well known for his opposition to abortion — yet he recognises that collapsing together the issues of premature babies and abortion time limits profoundly distorts the terms of the discussions that we need to be having. Meanwhile, those who wish to restrict women's access to abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy need to ask themselves one simple question.
Why would a woman have an abortion at 22 or 23 weeks, if she didn't really need one? Home Contact Us. Book an appointment Call Find a clinic. Book appointment. Toggle main menu. In fact — good news — a preemie baby born at 34 to 36 weeks has nearly a percent chance at survival and the same chances at long-term health as a baby who was born full-term.
Still, your to week-old baby might be smaller and a bit more delicate than a week or full-term baby. Your doctor may recommend that they stay in an incubator at the hospital for a week or two, so they can rest and get a bit bigger before going home. A week or two more in the womb can make a big difference for your baby. Medical advances in caring for premature babies means better outcomes, and more peace of mind for parents.
With less time to develop in the womb, premature babies are more likely to have health issues. Learn about eye and ear problems that may affect them…. Babies born at 36 weeks are at risk for a number of complications. Here's what parents need to know. Every delivery is as unique and individual as each mother and infant. Each woman may have a completely new experience with each labor and delivery. For most women, labor pain is managed by using medication or foregoing all medication.
New studies of virtual reality as a pain management tool may…. A perineal massage during pregnancy may help lower the risk of painful tears during childbirth. We'll show you how. A new study finds that epidurals do not affect child development in their later years. A fetal arrhythmia is an irregular heart rate — too fast, too slow, or otherwise outside the norm.
It's often benign. Postpartum diarrhea after a C-section is normal. This can happen from bleeding in the brain or a lack of oxygen. Other things that affect treatment decisions include how physically healthy the baby looks and how many weeks old the baby appears to be. The first month after the birth is when most major problems occur. It is a critical decision-making period for parents. There may be laws in your area that affect your decisions. Talk to your doctor about this.
The more premature the baby is, the lower the chances of survival are. Very few infants survive when they are born at 22 to 23 weeks of pregnancy. The table below shows estimates based on two sources. It's important to remember that research results are only general numbers. Everyone's case is different, and these numbers may not show what will happen in your baby's case. In the first year of life, babies that have a very low birth weight are more likely to be in the hospital more often than babies who were born at a healthier weight.
Many problems can't be found until after an infant's more urgent problems are under control. For example:. Below are examples from studies of children who survived being born extremely early. Up to 4 out of 10 had one or more moderate or severe problems by the time they were age 8. At age 6, about 5 out of 10 children born at these early ages were more likely than other children to have attention problems, behaviour problems, and problems adjusting to school. Nearly 4 out of 10 had problems at age 19, including problems with hearing, sight, intellectual disability, and having a job.
For a tool that can help estimate the outcome for babies born at 22 to 25 weeks of age, go to www. Author: Healthwise Staff. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information.
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