Description of a Premature Baby

The full term for a pregnancy is 40 weeks. When a baby is born before 37 weeks of the mother's gestation period, the baby is said to be premature, or preemie. Premature babies usually weigh less than full term babies do.

Adjusted Age

• Since premature babies are born early, they are not fully developed and are often described in terms of their adjusted age, which is the baby's age in weeks minus the number of weeks that the baby was born early. This is helpful in understanding developmental milestones such as when the baby will be able to eat solid foods.

Low Birth Weight

• Premature babies usually have a low birth weight (5 lbs 8 ounces or less) or very low birth weight (3 lbs 4 ounces or less). Babies who are born before 30 weeks of pregnancy are often very low birth weight babies, according to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

• Premature babies often have to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the hospital for a few days, weeks or even months after being born. This allows neonatal nurses to monitor the baby's health at all times.

Health Problems

• Some of the health problems that premature babies can have include jaundice, breathing difficulties due to underdeveloped lungs and digestive problems. Many premature babies benefit from the antibodies and growth hormones in a mother's breast milk to grow stronger and bigger.

Treatments for Premature Babies

• The most common treatment that premature babies undergo is being kept in an incubator to keep their body temperature normal. There are also many special breathing treatment machines to facilitate better breathing.