"Doctors are getting very good at saving very premature babies. In the hospitals with the most experience resuscitating those babies, children born at just 22 weeks now have a 67 percent survival rate. But many hospitals don’t try to save babies born that soon, and parents aren’t made aware of the potentially lifesaving care sometimes av…
"Doctors are getting very good at saving very premature babies. In the hospitals with the most experience resuscitating those babies, children born at just 22 weeks now have a 67 percent survival rate. But many hospitals don’t try to save babies born that soon, and parents aren’t made aware of the potentially lifesaving care sometimes available just a few miles away."
Hmmm...an average 22 week fetus isn't very well developed. Around 1980 or so, a study was published about the incidence of what's called a germinal matrix hemorrhage (GMH). This is a hemorrhage that happens inside the developing brain of a baby. It is very highly correlated with low weight. At 22 weeks, the average fetus weighs less than half a kilogram, or about a pound. The Colorado study showed that in babies weighing less than 1.4 kilograms--almost three times the 22 week weight--the incidence of GMH was 44% ! While it won't be 100% even in very low weight infants, it's going to be a lot higher than 44%.
So, what does this do to a baby's brain? Nothing good. If the bleeding is large enough, the baby dies. If it's small, it only damages some brain tissue, but the smaller the baby (weight wise--which correlates with development), the higher the likelihood of a "bad baby," i.e., one that is going to lead quite a difficult life.
It would be interesting to see how well 22 week gestated babies do as they grow and develop.
"Doctors are getting very good at saving very premature babies. In the hospitals with the most experience resuscitating those babies, children born at just 22 weeks now have a 67 percent survival rate. But many hospitals don’t try to save babies born that soon, and parents aren’t made aware of the potentially lifesaving care sometimes available just a few miles away."
Hmmm...an average 22 week fetus isn't very well developed. Around 1980 or so, a study was published about the incidence of what's called a germinal matrix hemorrhage (GMH). This is a hemorrhage that happens inside the developing brain of a baby. It is very highly correlated with low weight. At 22 weeks, the average fetus weighs less than half a kilogram, or about a pound. The Colorado study showed that in babies weighing less than 1.4 kilograms--almost three times the 22 week weight--the incidence of GMH was 44% ! While it won't be 100% even in very low weight infants, it's going to be a lot higher than 44%.
So, what does this do to a baby's brain? Nothing good. If the bleeding is large enough, the baby dies. If it's small, it only damages some brain tissue, but the smaller the baby (weight wise--which correlates with development), the higher the likelihood of a "bad baby," i.e., one that is going to lead quite a difficult life.
It would be interesting to see how well 22 week gestated babies do as they grow and develop.