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27 Mar 2008
Babies born prematurely may suffer from certain medical conditions until adulthood, a study suggests.
Research into 1.2 million babies born in Norway between 1967 and 1988 shows that those delivered before 37 weeks were more likely to die as children.
They also found that babies born early were less likely to have their own children as adults and did less well in school.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, followed the subjects through until 2002 and is one of the first to look at the long-term effects of prematurity.
"When a baby is born pre-term we tend to focus on the short-term risk of complications," Dr Geeta Swamy of Duke University Medical Center, who carried out the research, said.
"While it is true that the immediate risk of complications is highest [during] hospitalisation and the first year of life, that risk continues into adolescence. And the earlier you are born the higher the risk."
"Those who are born extremely prematurely are likely to have complications throughout their lives."
Experts added that the research looked at children born many years ago and that medical treatments for premature babies have made significant improvements since helping many more premature babies to survive than previously.
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