Pregnancy tips Outcomes of Micropremies

With more women in the high risk pregnancy category, and with the ability to help very premature babies survive, many wonder what happens to these babies/kids as they grow up. This article talks about some of the success stories:

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From the article:

Both girls, who were born at the same Illinois hospital, showed normal language skills and hit normal milestones for walking and toilet training. Rumaisa's movement skills -- writing, grasping for toys, and getting dressed -- are mildly delayed, while Madeline's are described as normal.

Both girls remain small for their age for weight and height. Rumaisa is in first grade with an individualized education plan.

At 20, Madeline stood 4 feet, 7 inches and weighed about 65 pounds. Her growth has been consistently far below other girls her age.

"We tell parents of babies born this small not to expect their children to be super tall," says researcher Jonathan Muraskas, MD.

Even so, he credits three main reasons for the girls’ relatively normal development. The first, says Muraskas, is that number of weeks of the pregnancy is much more important than birth weight for a child's growth and brain development.