TomStockholm
22nd October 2003, 02:42 AM
I am the proud father of a 3 year old (healthy) boy. He was born very prematurely in the 25th week, weighing 680 grams.
Being in this position as a father made me very quickly learn the rudiments of neo natal care, and I was very impressed by what they could do to save my son's life.
Nobody seemed to be able to answer these questions though (although admittedly at the time I probably wasn't in the greatest frame of mind to register their answers, so I may be wrong).
Why was my son born so prematurely? My (now ex) wife had earlier borne a child in the 28th week who died, but has also two other children who were born after a full pregnancy. Is it possibly genetic, or is there any research out there showing other reasons why children are born so early?
Why exactly are twins more likely to be born prematurely? I know they are smaller and all that, but that seems to me to be a reason for them to want to hang on in their a little bit longer so to speak. Does one of the twins somehow try and force the other out or something?
I am also interested in what the future holds in this area. What are the possibilities of building some kind of heart and lung machine that could save even more premature children? Is it hindered because of technological reasons or is it to do with ethics?
How early could you reasonably expect to save premature kids in the future?
Thanks
Tom
Being in this position as a father made me very quickly learn the rudiments of neo natal care, and I was very impressed by what they could do to save my son's life.
Nobody seemed to be able to answer these questions though (although admittedly at the time I probably wasn't in the greatest frame of mind to register their answers, so I may be wrong).
Why was my son born so prematurely? My (now ex) wife had earlier borne a child in the 28th week who died, but has also two other children who were born after a full pregnancy. Is it possibly genetic, or is there any research out there showing other reasons why children are born so early?
Why exactly are twins more likely to be born prematurely? I know they are smaller and all that, but that seems to me to be a reason for them to want to hang on in their a little bit longer so to speak. Does one of the twins somehow try and force the other out or something?
I am also interested in what the future holds in this area. What are the possibilities of building some kind of heart and lung machine that could save even more premature children? Is it hindered because of technological reasons or is it to do with ethics?
How early could you reasonably expect to save premature kids in the future?
Thanks
Tom