Premature Babies – Increased Survival Rates Due To Technology

Increase in the survival rate of premature babies has been linked to increases in technology. The term premature baby refers to any baby born before 37 weeks gestation, however there are different levels of prematurity.

In the UK over 54,000 premature babies are born every year. The risk of having a premature baby increases for women who have had a premature birth before, with these women being two and a half time more likely to have a premature baby than a woman who has not.

The risk of premature labour could also be decreased by stopping smoking, obtaining treatment for vaginal infections or discharges, keeping fit and healthy, avoiding excess stress and reporting symptoms such as swollen ankles, blood loss or fluid loss as early as possible as they may indicate complications with the pregnancy or maternal health problems.

Some premature births are due to congenital abnormalities, medical problems resulting in early delivery and others can be caused by infection or preterm rupture of membranes, although 30% of these premature births have no known cause. Each of these problems could possibly be detected early using an ultrasound scan.

Ultrasound scans including Nuchal scans help with the early detection of developmental problems with the uterus, amniotic sac or the foetus iteself. Research in 1995 showed that 50% of babies born at 22 weeks survived, those born at 24 weeks had a 81% survival rate. many of these babies had permanent disabilities but 20% of them had no problems at all.

The survival rate of babies born before 28 weeks gestation is quite remarkable and the likelihood of this continuing to improve is quite high with the improvements in technology. A lot of premature babies spend lengthy periods of time in specialist baby units as low birth weight, poor lung and brain development along with other physical health problems make their start in life difficult.

Decreases in mortality rates mean that researchers can now focus on reducing long-term morbidity problems like brain damage. The intense levels of care and close monitoring that these babies receive in the specialist baby units, along with new medicines and technology mean that these babies are now surviving and living longer due to the incumbent complications being better managed.

This became increasingly evident in 2006 when a new piece of research showed that the UK has the highest level of premature babies born in Europe. Although the reasons for this are unclear it is believed that stress and women working late into their pregnancies are the main cause. Of the 952 babies born before 26 weeks that were taken into the specialist baby unit 52% survived compared to 40% in 1995.

Although the rate of premature births has increased in the past 5 years after being stable for 15 years, the increase in research and the uptake of ultrasound scans are helpful in determining the reasons for this development and 4d ultrasound scans are helping families bond with their unborn premature baby.

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