The health of very premature babies in question

More than 10000 huge premature born every year in France. A major study of Inserm reveals for the first time the risks and problems that may pose these very early births. Being a big premature, it means born before the 7th month of pregnancy (before 33 weeks). There are more and more in France, probably because of the increase in multiple pregnancies but also for the improvement of medical technology: today very premature babies are taken care of as soon as 22 days. The study conducted by Epipage Inserm follows nearly 2400 children from 9 regions of France, since 1996. They are compared to a group of 666 children born at term. Scientists are now studying the data up to the age of 5. And the results show that very early births are not without consequences for toddlers. First observation: very premature babies are more often under medical care or paramedical staff for 5 years. One third are monitored, compared to 16% of infants born at term. This figure rises to 42% for larger premature infants, those born between 24 and 28 weeks. Regarding motor impairments, sensory and cognitive, 40% of very premature babies suffer. But we must nevertheless qualify this observation: in detail, 25% have problems lighter, 9% of unrest moderate, and only 5% had severe deficiencies. Lastly, as regards the development of the brain, 32% have achieved a score of cognitive abilities (equivalent to IQ) of less than 85 (compared with 12% of children born at term) and 12% a score less than 70 (compared to 3% Children born at term). For scientists, this may expose them to learning problems in school. These results raise the question of limits in the care of very premature babies. But above all it shows the importance of monitoring and support of these children during their first years of life.