Prematurity at a glance
Premature infants, known as “preemies”, come into the world earlier than full-term infants, weigh less than 2500g and account for about 7% of all live births. They may be born between 24 and 37 weeks of pregnancy and can weigh as little as 700g. From 24 weeks, they grow in utero by about 30g per day. So every day counts.
Premature babies have special nutritional needs because they grow at a faster rate than full-term babies (“catch-up growth”) while their digestive systems are still immature. Thanks to many recent advances in the care of low birth weight babies, more than 90% of those weighing 1000 to 2000 g at birth now survive. One of the key advances comes through special formulas for premature babies, specifically designed to meet their quantitative and qualitative needs for optimum growth.
Nursing a premature infant is not easy. Breast milk is an excellent source of nutrition, but premature infants are too immature to be fed directly from the breast or bottle until they are 32 to 34 biological weeks old. They can only drink a small amount at a time, most often via a tube placed through the nose into the stomach.
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