Most Preemies Become Healthy Kids

"Sometimes people think that being born premature means that you're handicapped," former preemie Vincent La-lumière says. "That's not the case. You can live a normal life." La-lumière, born eight weeks early in 1993, spent 13 months in the NICU. Yet today, he's a musically gifted 16-year-old with no health problems.

Unfortunately, when people believe most preemies continue life with serious medical problems, they begin to question why hospitals and doctors are trying to save younger and younger preemies. Claims that preemies don't fare well even enter into the abortion debate.

But the fact remains that less than 1% of all preemies have long-term medical problems or disabilities.

"What you hear from the newspapers is that they're all so sick: they are blind, they are deaf, but this is such a small percentage," says Elise Couture, a pediatrician at the Montreal Children's Hospital. Couture also says research shows most parents of preemies with disabilities "are content with their children."

To better educate the public, Montreal Children's Hospital is working with Prema-Quebec, a nonprofit group. They are hoping Quebec's government will name September 5th the Day for Premature Children. (In the United States, Preemie Awareness Month is November of each year.)

SOURCE: "Most preemies go on to lead healthy lives," Vancouver Sun, http://www.vancouversun.com/Health/Most+preemies+lead+healthy+lives/1724611/story.html

Preemie Posture May Indicate IQ

Australian researchers think the the postures a premature baby holds may help identify children who later develop learning disabilities.

"If you can identify those at risk of a lower intelligence you can intervene earlier by providing a richer learning environment," says researcher Phillipa Butcher, of the Australian National University in Canberra.

Butcher and others looked at babies born before 33 weeks gestation and filmed them 11 to 16 weeks after their original due date. They looked for typical newborn poses (such as the fingers on one hand pointing in different directions at the same time or babies laying on their backs with their heads held straight) held for at least five minutes.

When these children turned seven to 11 years of age, researchers tested their IQ. Of the 16 babies who'd held none or one typical posture, all had IQs below 100. Of the children who'd held two or more typical postures, 60% had IQs above 100.

Butcher thinks some preemies may lack the motor skill to explore the world in a way that allows their intelligence to develop well. Or, perhaps these typical postures indicate healthy brain development. Either way, this method may help identify children who need intervention.

SOURCES: "Premature babies' posture points to IQ," New Scientist, http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227125.200-premature-babies-posture-points-to-iq.html AND "The quality of preterm infants' spontaneous movements: an early indicator of intelligence and behaviour at school age," Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122370969/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Survival Rates Go Up for Preemies

Ideas are changing about how early infants can be born. According to a new Swedish study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 70% of extremely premature infants now survive. Preemies in the 22 to 26 weeks gestation are no longer certain to die.

Not only is this important information for parents, who are sometimes told to abort babies who are certain to be born so early, but doctors are more likely to give a premature babies aggressive care if they believe his or her chances of survival are higher.

The study looked at data from more than 305,000 babies born in Sweden between 2004 and 2007. Among those babies, 1,011 were extremely premature (born before 27 weeks). After a year, 70% of the preemies born alive were alive. The study also showed "dramatic increases in survival" for every additional week of gestation.

"For babies born at 22 weeks, one-year survival was 9.8 percent; at 23 weeks it was 53 percent; at 24 weeks, survival was 67 percent; at 25 weeks it was 82 percent; and at 26 weeks, one-year survival reached 85 percent. Among the surviving infants, 45 percent had no severe neonatal illness at 1 year old...For infants surviving 28 days, there was no significant association between gestational age at birth and one-year survival, Marsal's team found."

Researchers also found tocolytics (drugs used to stop labor), corticosteroids, or both drugs seemed to lower the risk of infant death, as did surfactant (a fluid used to treat preemies' lungs) after birth. Being born at a hospital known for excellent care for premature infants also helped.

SOURCE: "More 'Extreme' Preemies Surviving," MSN, http://health.msn.com/pregnancy/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100239611

Music May Ease Preemie Pain & Help with Feedings

Music has long been thought comforting to preemies, and a recent study by the University of Alberta adds more evidence to this claim. Specifically, the study found that a pacifier activated music system improved oral feedings among premature infants who were having difficulty in that area.

The study also tried to determine if music played while preemies were having their heels pricked eased infants' pain. According to Manoj Kumar, an assistant clinical professor in the neonatal division of the pediatrics department at the university, "Calmer infants, a stable condition in the child's physiologic functions such as heart rate and higher oxygen saturation, and lesser pain during the painful procedures such as circumcision and blood sampling via heal prick."

However, many doctors still feel as Dr. F. Sessions Cole, director of newborn medicine and head of the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Louis Children's Hospital, does. "Based on this article, evaluation of the use of music for pain relief among sick newborn infants is experimental at best," says Cole, "and will require more carefully designed, methodologically rigorous strategies before any kind of conclusion about its usefulness can be made."

SOURCE: "Music May Temper Pain in Preemies," Drugs.com, http://www.drugs.com/news/music-may-temper-pain-preemies-17979.html

Folic Acid Cuts Risk of Prematurity 70%

Dramatically decreasing your risk for having a premature infant by is as simple as taking a folic acid supplement.

A recent study found that mothers who took folic acid for a year before concieving, then at least 12 weeks into their pregnancy, greatly reduced their risk of giving birth to a preemie and of having a child with spinal or brain defects. The study looked at 35,000 pregnancies and found that women who took folic acid for more than a year before becoming pregnant decreased the risk of having a baby born before 28 weeks by a whopping 70%. The risk of having a baby born between 28 and 32 weeks was cut by 50%.

Most experts advise women to take 0.4mg of folic acid every day.

SOURCE: "Taking folic acid for a year 'cuts risk of premature births by 70%'," Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1180704/Taking-folic-acid-year-cuts-risk-premature-births-70.html

Lack of Iron Might Lead to Hearing Problems in Preemies

Mothers whose bodies are low in iron may have premature infants with hearing difficulties, a new study claims.

"The study evaluated 80 premature babies over 18 months, testing their cord blood for iron levels and using a non-invasive tool...to measure the maturity of the brain's auditory nervous system soon after birth. It was found that the brains of infants with low iron levels in their cord blood...had abnormal maturation of auditory system compared to infants with normal cord iron levels."

In other words: "Sound isn't transmitted as well through the immature auditory pathway in the brains of premature babies who are deficient in iron as compared to premature babies who have enough iron," said Sanjiv Amin, associate professor of paediatrics at University of Rochester Medical Centre (URMC),.

Low iron levels in mothers (also called anemia) is already known to cause fatigue, preterm labor, and low birth weights.

SOURCE: "Scanty iron in womb may erode premature baby's ability to hear," Hindu News Update, http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/099200905051451.htm

People Magazine Features Preemies

The May 18th issue of People magazine features a story about six micro preemies treated at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. Neonatologist Dr. Ronald Hoekstra follows 156 infants who were extremely premature, noting their health and development until they are young adults. All the babies were born between 1986 and 1990 and were as young as 23 gestations. All are well-functioning adults.

SOURCE: "CSB and SJU students featured in People magazine story on premature babies," College of St. Benedict: http://www.csbsju.edu/news/2009/05/preemies.htm