Risks of 28 weeks premature birth

28 weeks premature birth is a fetus born when the mother is 28 weeks pregnant. What are the risks that your baby faces?

Preterm birth can cause many health complications at birth, lasting into adulthood and affecting a child's later life.

Risks for 28-week preterm infants

Babies born prematurely before 28 weeks of gestation account for a very low rate but have the most complications.

Most at birth, these babies have an extremely low weight (less than 1.5 kg) and require treatment with oxygen, an active substance (Surfactant) and a mechanical ventilator.

Babies are too immature to breastfeed , swallow and breathe at the same time, so they need to eat through their veins until these skills are developed. Babies born prematurely before 28 weeks are often unable to cry (or you can hear the screeching sound of a breathing machine in them only) and sleep for most of the day. In addition, babies have very little muscle tone and most move very little.

Babies born at this time look very different from term babies. Your baby's skin will be wrinkled, pale red in color and so thin that you can see the blood vessels underneath. The face and body are covered with soft hairs called undercoat. These babies have not had time to accumulate fat so they look very fragile. Most of their eyes are closed and eyelashes are still absent.

Babies born prematurely under 28 weeks are at an increased risk of one or more medical complications. However, most babies born after about 26 weeks of gestation (about 80% of babies born at 26 weeks of gestation and about 90% of babies born at 27 weeks of gestation) survive for up to one year, although babies may need to be kept alive. long-term stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

However, about 25% of premature babies have problems with serious long-term disabilities and 50% have milder problems, such as learning and behavior problems.

Risks for premature infants 28-31 weeks

Babies that look quite similar to those born earlier but weigh more (usually 1-1.8 kg) and have an even greater chance of survival by about 96%.

Most of these babies need treatment with oxygen, active substances and mechanical respiratory support. Some of them can be fed breast milk or formula through a catheter that is placed through the nose or mouth into the stomach. Others need to be fed intravenously. Your baby may cry and move more, but the movements are just a little shivering.

Babies born prematurely at this time can have a finger, open eyes, be awake and awake for short periods of time. Similar to babies born prematurely before 28 weeks, babies born prematurely between 28 and 31 weeks are also at risk for medical complications.

However, when complications do do occur, they may not be as serious as early babies. Babies born with very low weight (less than 1.5 kg) are still at risk for serious disabilities.

Hopefully, through the above article, mothers have a better understanding of the condition of premature babies at each stage in pregnancy.