Premature Babies

Also called: Preemies

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Basics

Summary
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Treatments and Therapies

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Living With
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Specifics

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Summary

Almost 1 of every 10 infants born in the United States are premature, or preemies. A premature birth is when a baby is born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks.

Important growth and development happen throughout pregnancy - especially in the final months and weeks. Because they are born too early, preemies weigh much less than full-term babies. They may have health problems because their organs did not have enough time to develop. Problems that a baby born too early may have include:

Preemies need special medical care in a neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU. They stay there until their organ systems can work on their own.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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Health Issues of Premature Babies (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
Preterm Babies (March of Dimes Foundation) Also in Spanish
Preterm Labor and Birth (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
When Your Baby's Born Premature (Nemours Foundation)

Treatments and Therapies

What Are the Common Treatments for Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC)? (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) Also in Spanish

Living With

Caring for Your Premature Baby (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
Caring for Your Premature Baby at Home (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Common Parent Reactions to the NICU (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
Feeding Your Baby in the NICU (March of Dimes Foundation) Also in Spanish
Grandparents and the NICU (March of Dimes Foundation)
Immunizations for Preterm Babies (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) (March of Dimes Foundation) Also in Spanish
Transitioning Newborns from NICU to Home (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
Watching for Complications (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

Corrected Age for Preemies (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
Cranial Ultrasound (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
Overview of Early Intervention (Center for Parent Information and Resources)
Skin-to-Skin Contact: How Kangaroo Care Benefits Your Baby (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
When Your Baby's in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Your Preemie's Growth and Developmental Milestones (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish

Specifics

Apnea of Prematurity (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
Necrotizing Enterocolitis (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) Also in Spanish
Periventricular Leukomalacia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) (National Eye Institute)
Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

FastStats: Birthweight and Gestation (National Center for Health Statistics)
PeriStats: Perinatal Statistics (March of Dimes Foundation)

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Infant, Premature (National Institutes of Health)
ClinicalTrials.gov: Infant, Premature, Diseases (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Find an Expert

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Also in Spanish
KidsHealth (Nemours Foundation)
March of Dimes Foundation Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

Apnea of prematurity (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Intraventricular hemorrhage of the newborn (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Necrotizing enterocolitis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Neonatal weight gain and nutrition (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Osteopenia - premature infants (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Premature infant (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Preterm labor (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish