The health service is getting better at saving babies born early in pregnancy – but is having less success at preventing long-term problems, according to a major study published today.
By 2006 neonatal intensive care units in England received some 1,115 babies born between 22 and 25 weeks of pregnancy. And 53% of these survived, researchers found.
This included just 2% of those born at 22 weeks.
This compares with 666 in 1996 with 40% of these surviving, according to the research in the British Medical Journal.
But the proportion of these babies with serious lifelong health problems has not reduced – although there is a reduction in the proportion with disability of any kind, according to a second research study in the journal.
This found that at the age of three about 18% of babies born after premature delivery at this stage of pregnancy had severe disability – regardless of whether they were born in 1996 or 2006.
But 34% of the 2006 babies were free of disability compared with 23% of the 1996 babies.
Researcher Professor Kate Costeloe, of Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, UK, writes: "While the total number of children surviving extremely preterm birth free from impairments will rise, so will the number with long term health problems.
"This represents an important increase in workload for health, educational, and social services."
BMJ December 5 2012
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