Preemies

By Emily Gough

What is a Preemie?

• "Preemie" is the common term used when referring to a premature baby. The dictionary definition of a preemie is “a prematurely born infant”. A preemie is born before 37 weeks gestation while a full term baby is born at 37 weeks or after. Preemies require a very different start in life, and this can vary dramatically depending on the level of prematurity. Micropreemie and preemie are the two terms used to help define the degree of prematurity.

These two babies were not fully developed. These babies are both preemies, and they may lose their lives.

This is Cade. He is a preemie and he has been in NICU for about 3 weeks.

This is Cord. He is a preemie and he has been in NICU for about 3 weeks.

This is Cade. He has his feeding tube in his nose and he has all of his monitors.

This is Cord. He has his oxygen and his feeding tube. He also has all of his monitors.

Prematurity occurs when a pregnancy lasts fewer than 37 weeks; full-term infants are born 38 to 42 weeks.

This baby is grabbing a finger.

These were really close twins. As you can tell they have pads over there eyes because of the light. They have those pads around their eyes because they aren't fully developed.

This baby has all the monitors hooked on its body. It has it’s oxygen and all of its heart monitors.

Premature baby in incubator.

Zhang Ni, a premature palm-sized baby, is put on an electronic scale which reads 0.832 kg, at the Children's Hospital in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province Thursday, July 6, 2006. Doctors say the baby is growing well, physically normal and healthy except for the tiny size. They hope her parents will come back to her one day. Zhang is also the smallest-sized premature baby the hospital ever treated. (China Daily)

Resources

• www.nottingham.ac.uk/human-development/Epicur

• english.people.com.cn/200607/07/images/xi• www.statesman.com/.../news/local/

preemies.html