Preterm birth: high vulnerability and no resiliency? Reflections on van Lieshout et al. (2018)

Abstract

Globally, 15 million babies are born preterm (<37 weeks gestation) each year, representing 11% of all live births. In the UK, around 7% of children are born preterm each year and around 15% of all preterm born are born more than 8 weeks early (VPT; very preterm) or below 1,500 g birth weight (VLBW). Prematurity is the major cause of infant mortality despite largely increased survival in recent decades attributable to advances in antenatal and neonatal care. Very and extremely preterm born infants (EPT; <28 weeks gestation) often spend many weeks and months in neonatal care before discharge.