Pregnancy and Birth
Preterm Labor Pregnancy and Birth
Although 37 weeks of gestation is considered mature, a fetus can reach maturity as early as 35 weeks. This does not mean that younger or smaller babies can not survive. today, often do. neonatal intensive care, highly sophisticated equipment to help babies breathe, a recently developed drug called surfactant, which helps the lungs stay expanded, and at all times the attention of specialized personnel, premature babies are more likely to survive than they did decades ago. newborns can survive with birth weight as low as 500 grams (just over a pound) and a gestational age of about 23 or 24 weeks. these tiny infants, however, often have developmental problems in children.
Most of the difficulty in performance between preterm infants seen in babies under 34 weeks gestational age. Government statistics today to distinguish between moderately preterm births (32 to 36 weeks) and very preterm births (less than 32 completed weeks of gestation). Also distinctions made between low birth weight (less than 2500 grams or 5? pounds), very low birth weight (1500 grams or less, about 31 / 3, pounds), and very low birth weight (1000 grams or less, about 2 Pounds).
In 1998, the total percentage of premature births in the United States was 11.6. This percentage has been increasing. in 1990, was 10.6 percent, in 1981, 9.4 percent. Most of the increase in 1998 was moderate in the group of premature babies born between 32 and 36 weeks of gestation.