Why are babies born prematurely?

Most mothers don’t know in advance that their baby is going to be born prematurely, so when it happens, it comes as a great shock. However, it’s not unusual: some babies will always be born prematurely, that is before 37 weeks of completed pregnancy. Thanks to recent developments in technology and medical advances though, more and more premature babies are now able to survive and grow into healthy children.

There are several reasons why a woman might go into premature labour before her baby is sufficiently mature to cope with life outside the womb. These include:

• Infections
• Smoking or poor diet
• A multiple pregnancy, for example twins
• Cervical incompetence
• Life-threatening conditions such as pre-eclampsia

In some cases, you may never discover the reason why your baby was born prematurely.

If you have had a previous premature birth, or if there is a possibility that you may have a premature baby, your hospital will probably want to scan you more frequently, perhaps every two weeks, to check the growth of your baby.