Pregnancy & Baby 

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Premature babies

>Little Jennifer Jane Brown was too small and fragile to survive outside the womb

Jennifer Jane Brown weighed just 2lbs 4oz when she was delivered by Caesarean at 33 weeks on 28 December. She was born early because a scan revealed concerns about her heartbeat and growth - the average weight of a baby at 33 weeks gestation is approximately 4lbs 5oz.

If the placenta fails or malfunctions, a baby can stop growing, and be deprived of nutrients or oxygen. Jennifer Jane Brown would have been at risk if the pregnancy continued.

She was transferred immediately to a special care baby unit, where her heart function, breathing, blood pressure and body temperature would have been closely monitored. Oxygen, ventilators and tube feeding would also be available.

Tiny babies are ultra sensitive, and cannot respond to more than one type of stimulus at a time - for example touch and sound - so they are handled very gently, and the special care baby unit is kept quiet with low lighting.

The relative risks
The decision to deliver a baby before 40 weeks is not taken lightly. The risks to life within and outside the womb have to be quantified. For instance, babies weighing less than 3lbs 5oz at birth are more at risk from the complications of immaturity.

The length of time a baby spends in the womb directly relates to its chances of survival. There is evidence that, during the first days outside the womb, a premature baby puts normal maturing on hold while she uses all her energy to survive. These babies do mature in the normal way, but it simply happens later.

Immature lungs pose the most serious danger, especially the threat of respiratory distress syndrome, in which the air sacs cannot function adequately to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide and small babies may require oxygen and even a ventilator until they become stronger.

A delay of even 48 hours can make a significant difference. Steroids administered to the mother can speed up development of the lung lining. This helps most infants between the ages of 26 and 35 weeks and poses no serious risks to either the mother or the baby.

Initial reports, which gave cause for hope, indicated that Jennifer Jane was breathing by herself and taking a little food. Breast milk can help prevent infection in premature babies, and can be supplied from a milk bank, or the mother can express colostrum - the early milk that contains high levels of protective antibodies and protein.

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