Premature Birth And Long Term Effects

Hi,

I am Dr. Lata Bhat, Pediatrician. Today I will talk about long term health effects of premature birth. Which means a baby who is born too soon before 37 weeks of delivery. These babies who are born too soon can have some health issues in the long run also. So, today we are going to discuss only the long term effects. In India, about 12% of babies are born too soon. They can have health effects in the longer run. Now you must remember not all babies are going to have a problem. Most of them are normal. Those babies who are born prematurely like before 34 weeks, the more premature they are, the more problems they are going to have. And if they are very sick in ICU, then they can also have more problems. The only way to deal with the problem is to prevent prematurity and to take care of the problem early.

Detect the problem as early as possible. Thus, premature birth affects the baby's brain and that is why they can have developmental issues. They can have delayed physical developments, vision, communication issues, they can also have ADHD. Can the preterm baby have the lungs problem? Some of the babies especially those born below 30 weeks can have long term breathing problems like asthma but many of these babies can recover. So, the only way to deal with the problem is where the proper newborn intensity care is available and with a trained newborn specialist. The problems have to be detected early by a person who is a pediatrician and can identify the problems. The timely intervention will help in preventing these problems. For any further query, contact me through Lybrate.

Thank You!