They are all premature babies, the birth age is not the same, the gap is so big!

Early preterm vs. late preterm infants, what is the impact of the size of the baby's gestational age?

As we all know, premature babies are born prematurely, the body systems are not yet mature at birth, and many babies need to be hospitalized or stayed in incubators for a period of time after birth to go home with their parents. Even after discharge, premature babies still have a high incidence of neonatal diseases, poor digestive function, poor immune function, motor retardation and other problems than full-term babies, and there are more serious and higher risks in early premature babies than late premature babies.

How is the distinction between early preterm and late preterm infants?

There are many ways to classify premature babies, and this article is based on gestational age at birth1,2:

Early preterm infants: gestational age < 34 weeks (239 days <)

Late preterm infants: 34 weeks≤ gestational age< 37 weeks (239 to 259 days)

*There are many sources for the classification of preterm infants, and the above classification is based on [Reference Source 1], which is only the content of this article and cannot be used as a basis for diagnosis and treatment.

What are the differences between early preterm and late preterm babies?

1

Late preterm infants are more common

With the advancement of science and technology and medical technology, the means of fetal preservation and delayed delivery are also gradually increasing, these means can effectively extend the baby's time in the womb, for the baby to win more development time, so in recent years, the proportion of late preterm babies is also getting higher and higher, there are surveys showing that in recent years, the proportion of preterm babies in the middle and late preterm babies can reach 71.5% of the total 3.

2

In late preterm infants, the system functions relatively well3,4,5

The gestational age of late preterm infants is relatively large, and although the system and functional development still do not reach the level of full-term babies, they are more complete than those of early preterm infants, such as:

Coagulation function: within a few days after birth, the coagulation function of late preterm infants is relatively better, which can be verified by the baby's coagulation-related indicators, and the larger the gestational age, the closer the index data is to normal values.

Digestive system: the sucking-swallowing-breathing coordination of late preterm infants is relatively better, the feeding difficulty is lower than that of early premature babies, the number of tube feedings is less, and even some babies do not need tube feeding, they can eat independently after birth, and the risk of sucking and choking is relatively low.

Respiratory system: the end of pregnancy is the mature stage of the baby's lungs, and respiratory risks are common after the birth of premature babies, and problems such as neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and pulmonary hypertension are common. Studies have shown that late-born infants are less likely to develop apnea and bradycardia than early-stage premature babies, but still more so than full-term babies.

3

The incidence of complications and neonatal morbidity is lower in late preterm infants6

After the birth of a premature baby, nearly half of the complications such as asphyxia, aspiration pneumonia, infection, and apnea occur, but overall the incidence of these complications gradually decreases with the baby's birth gestational age, that is, the complication rate of late preterm babies is much lower than that of early premature babies.

Can a premature baby born in the morning and evening closer to a term baby be cared for as a term baby?

Late preterm infants are born with a larger gestational age, relatively heavier weight, relatively more mature phylogenetic development of the body, and a better and closer to term baby than early preterm infants. But no matter how close the performance of late preterm infants is to that of a full-term baby, it is not completely equivalent to a full-term baby, and their health risk is still much higher than that of a full-term baby.

And because the performance of late preterm infants is closer to that of full-term babies, they are more likely to be ignored in the early postnatal catch-up, resulting in feeding difficulties, slow weight growth, and growth retardation due to the negligence of feeding and nursing. Therefore, late premature babies also need the careful care of parents and pay attention to follow-up, follow-up and follow-up, re-examination, in order to detect the baby's health problems as soon as possible.

In general, in premature babies, early premature babies need more care and more careful care from parents; at the same time, even if the overall state of late premature babies is better than that of early premature babies, it is still impossible to fully reach the state of full-term babies, and parents cannot take it lightly. However, the growth potential of premature babies is very large, and parents choose appropriate feeding methods and careful care, which can help premature babies quickly catch up with growth and "go hand in hand" with full-term babies.

bibliography

1. Zhou Jinjun, et al. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2015; 23(1): 109-110.

2. Wang Weiping, et al. Pediatrics (9th ed.). Beijing:People's Medical Publishing House.] 2018: 86.

3. Xie Lu, Yin Xiaojuan. Chinese Journal of Pediatrics. 2011; 49(7): 522-525.

4. Xu F Lin, et al. Journal of Clinical Pediatrics. 2016; 34(1): 25-28.

5. Yin Xiaojuan, Feng Zhichun. Chinese Journal of Neonatology. 2016; 31(5): 395-397.

6. Gu Weirong, et al. Chinese Journal of Perinatal Medicine. 2008; 11(1): 10-15.

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