Premature Baby

A premature baby, or preemie, is born before the 37th week of pregnancy. Premature birth occurs in between 8 percent to 10 percent of all pregnancies in the United States. Because they are born too early, preemies weigh much less than full-term babies. They may have health problems because their organs did not have enough time to develop. Preemies need special medical care in a neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU. They stay there until their organ systems can work on their own.

Newborn complications

Premature infants show physical signs of their prematurity and may develop other problems as well. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
Neurologic
-Apnea of prematurity
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
-Intracranial hemorrhage
-Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)
-Developmental disability
Cardiovascular
-Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)
Respiratory
-Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS or IRDS)
-Chronic lung disease (previously called bronchopulmonary dysplasia or BPD)
Gastrointestinal / metabolic
-Hypoglycemia
Feeding difficulties
-Rickets of prematurity
-Hypocalcemia
-Inguinal hernia
-Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
Hematologic
-Anemia of prematurity
-Thrombocytopenia
-Hyperbilirubinemia (jaundice)
Infectious
-Sepsis
-Urinary tract infection

Symptoms and indications

The symptoms of an imminent premature birth include:
-Four or more uterine contractions in one hour, before 37 weeks' gestation.
-A watery discharge from the vagina which may indicate premature rupture of the membranes surrounding the baby.
-Pressure in the pelvis or the sensation that the baby has "dropped".
-Menstrual cramps or abdominal pain.
-Pain or rhythmic tightening in lower abdomen or back.
-Vaginal spotting or bleeding.

Factors

There are many different factors which may contribute to a preterm birth.
Factors related to maternal disease or condition that have been shown to increase the risk of preterm birth, with associated odds ratio (OR) when known include:
Chromasomal abnormalities; Dr. Aaron Caughey, a perinatologist at UCSF, states..."...it's important to note that the majority of miscarriages - up to 80 percent - happen due to chromosomal abnormalities that have nothing to do with the mother's behavior. The last thing women who have had miscarriages need to do is blame themselves...." -SF Chronicle
high blood pressure (OR = 4.06)
pre-eclampsia (OR = 4.0)
age > 35 (OR = 1.8)
age < 18 (OR = 3.4)
short cervix (the strongest predictor of premature birth)
maternal diabetes
anxiety
periodontal disease (OR = 4.45%)
Whether or not urinary tract infections directly cause preterm birth is uncertain, however, it is known that urinary tract infections increase pre-eclampsia which as stated above increases the risk of preterm birth. Sexually transmitted disease STD, Beta Strep, kidney disease, and uterine infections are also suspected of increasing the risk of preterm birth.
Adequate maternal nutrition is important to fetaldevelopment and a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may help reduce the risk of a preterm delivery.
Factors related to pregnancy history that have been shown to increase the risk of preterm birth include:
prior preterm delivery (OR = 2.79)
prior induced abortion (OR = 1.6)
antepartum hemorrhage / vaginal bleeding during labor
prior miscarriage
Multiple pregnancies (twins, triplets, etc.) are another significant factor in preterm birth. The March of Dimes Multicenter Prematurity and Prevention Study found that 54% of twins were delivered preterm vs. 9.6% of singleton births.

Women who have tried to conceive for more than a year before getting pregnant are at a higher risk for premature birth. A recent study done by Dr. Olga Basso of the University of Aarhus in Denmark and Dr. Donna Baird of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences suggests that women who had difficulty conceiving were about 40 percent higher risk of preterm birth than those who had conceived easily.
Finally, the use of tobacco and alcohol during pregnancy also increases the chance of preterm delivery. Tobacco is the most commonly abused drug during pregnancy and also contributes significantly to low birth weight delivery