[Richie B]

I know they will have problems initially, but how likely is it that they will over come long term health problems?

[Amanda K]

About 80%

[mominohio]

Really it is hard to say. Female babies develop faster and their lungs are stronger earlier so they have a headstart of the fighting path but I have known males to be born that early and fight really well. Their lungs are immature so usually they do have asthma for the rest of their lives, their immune systems are weaker so they can become sick very easy and most don't outgrow that. It really depends on how developed they are at that point but I know my sisterinlaw was born at 21 wks and 3 days and weighed like 1 lb and she is now 18 years old and a mom herself to a healthy baby boy and she doesn't have any health problems at all. My cousin was born at 23 wks and he is almost legally blind in both eyes and has severe asthma but he is very smart for his age. My uncle was born at 28 wks and one of his lungs ended up collapsing when he was a few weeks old and he had some other problems before he came home and he is now a father of two but he does have to make sure he stays as healthy as he can. There are just so many factors. I know a little girl born at 30 wks that her brain wasn't fully developed and her lungs are extremly week but she is a fighter and she is now 8 years old and while she functions on a 4 year old level she is doing better than most expected. My friend had her son at 27 wks and he was in the NICU for a long time but he is overall healthy now but like every other premie i have ever met he is very much a"fighter"and very stubborn. Dr's say that is because they have to fight so hard to stay alive that they just continue to be a fighter throughout life and are very stubborn and have an even harder time taking no for an answer and hate to be told they can't do something. The more you say"you can't"the more they try to do it.

[Ryan's mom]

The best thing to do is have them transfered to the nearest Children's Hospital. My son was born at 29 weeks and the next day he was taken to Children's Hospital in Seattle (One of the top Children's Hospitals in the country). He received the latest and best care at the time (He just turned 3 in Aug). He received occupational therapy, and early intervention visits from the Birth-3 program. He has no delays at all and is VERY healthy. He is now playing soccer for the YMCA Youth program. It is a lot of work for the first year to keep them healthy, but with treatments today it is a better outcome.It must have been a typo from the person above. Her sister in law could not have been born at 21 weeks and be 18 years-old. The youngest preemie to ever survive was born at 21 weeks last year. Most doctors will not even attempt to save a baby born at that gestation. My husband and I lost a baby girl last Aug at 21 weeks. Also a baby born at 21 weeks is less than a pound, more like 10-13 oz.

[curious]

That's soo young, I'm not an expert, all I can tell you is I had a baby born at 33 wks. Luckily for me he was big&healthy for being born that early, but he did have to stay in the NICU for 1 wk. The first day he had a breathing tube, the first two days he had a feeding tube, an iv for a few days, the whole time he had heart monitors, then he got jaundice&had to be under the blue lights for a couple of days. But he never had any lasting effects, he was just under weight for the first month or two. He developed normally&had no long term problems.