Preemie Support

hi, are babies born at 37 wks considered preemies or term?

i read that term starts at 37 weeks, but also that "normal prncy lasts 38-40 weeks"

so what is it?

my baby was born 9/9/09 at 37 weeks. but if it is term, then why do ppl say, its good to make it to at least 38 wks.

i m quite confused abt this. i wish i had made it past 38 weeks but didnt. my first daughter was a preemie at 35 weeks, but that was an induced delivery for iugr, stayed in nicu and intermediate nursery for 16 days. it was rough. now she is healthy, and aother terdorable. but with her everyone was worried and took special care her being a "preemie".

 this time around, it was spontaneous labour, everyone including doctors are treating her like a full term. but to me she is behaving like my first child. she is 5 lb 7 oz. She is bigger than her elder sister who was 4 lbs, but she appears the same size to me.

i just would like some clarification about what is the definition of preemie, and why the cutoff of 37 weeks is considered by some as preemie, others, term.

i wish i had known that 37 weeks is not a good time to deliver, now i feel guilty becasue i didnt rest, kept working etc...maybe thats what triggered my labour?

thanks

Hi there!

Babies born prior to 37 weeks are preemies, so your second baby born at 37 weeks is not considered a preemie. Yes, small compared to a baby who waited until 40 weeks to be born, but just shy of being a preemie. :)

Usually doctors want a mom to get to at least 36 weeks before a baby is born. True, you do hear some doctors specifically say 38 weeks, but usually we hear doctors saying 36 weeks (these number seem to change a little depending on what country you are in, but internationally, 37 weeks is the cut-off for the 'premature' label). At this point (36 weeks), the majority of babies born do not have issues with breathing, heart rate, or maintaining their body temperatures. Many babies also do not even have problems with the coordination needed to feed orally at 36 weeks.

So try not to feel badly about delivering at 37 weeks. You did awesome!!! Try to remember that there was nothing you could have done to make labor start. There are hundreds of thousands of moms sitting at 41 weeks trying everything they can think of to get labor going.

You may run into some mild developmental differences for the first couple of months when you compare this baby to a baby who waited until 40 weeks to be born, but you won't see too many differences. As I'm sure you know, parents of preemies watch their child's adjusted age for development and you may need to do that for just a couple of months until your baby closes the gap. My guess would be that by the time your baby gets to the point of rolling, you won't see any differences in development at all.

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