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The term “expected date of delivery” generally refers to the 40th week of pregnancy. A baby born before reaching 37 weeks of pregnancy is called a “premature baby” or “preterm baby.” A baby weighing less than 1,500 grams at birth is called "a very low birth weight infant," and a baby weighing less than 1,000 grams is called an “extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infant.” Premature babies are born before they have fully grown and developed in the womb and require assistance in many ways to survive.
If your baby is born prematurely, has health problems, or was born via a difficult birth, the baby will be admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), a facility where they can receive intensive care 24 hours a day from a team of neonatal care specialists.
The following are problems that premature babies may experience while in the NICU:
| Temperature instability | Hypothermia, hyperthermia |
|---|---|
| Respiratory system | Respiratory distress syndrome, air leak syndrome, pulmonary hemorrhage, apnea, chronic lung disease |
| Nervous system | Intracranial hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, deafness, retinopathy of prematurity |
| Cardiovascular system | Hypotension, patent ductus arteriosus, congestive heart failure, shock |
| Hematological system | Anemia, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC) |
| Gastrointestinal tract | Feeding difficulty, necrotizing enterocolitis |
| Nutrition | Nutritional disorders |
| Metabolic disorder | Neonatal jaundice, osteopenia of prematurity, hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia |
| Renal system | Acute tubular necrosis, acute renal failure |
| Infection | Sepsis |
| Growth | Growth disorders |
Conditions for discharge from the hospital for a preterm baby may vary slightly from hospital to hospital, but generally, the baby must meet several conditions to be considered safe at home.
Corrected age refers to the age calculated by subtracting the number of weeks the baby was born early from its expected due date (40 weeks of pregnancy).
For example, when a preterm baby was born one month earlier than the expected due date and it is now 8 months old, the corrected age of the baby is 7 months. Growth, neurodevelopment, breastfeeding and weaning progress all follow the corrected age. However, vaccinations are administered according to birth age.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) commonly causes bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants and young children, particularly during the winter months. Preterm babies are vulnerable to infection because they have low levels of antibodies from their mothers, and can develop serious, life-threatening infections, especially in babies with chronic lung disease or congenital heart disease. High-risk groups with a high risk of developing severe RSV infection are given passive immunization with Synagis® (palivizumab) injections. During the RSV season (from September to March), intramuscular injections once a month are recommended for high-risk groups. Recently, an injection that provides a 5-month preventive effect with a single dose has also begun to be used. The main target population for administration include babies and preterm babies with chronic lung diseases, and children with congenital heart diseases. If you have any questions, please consult your medical care professional.
In the following situations, you should visit the hospital as soon as possible.