Preterm Infants

A preterm infant is a baby born before 37 weeks gestational age

Low Birth Weight (LBW)	Birth weight < 2,500g (5lbs 8oz)
Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW)	Birth weight < 1,500g (3lbs 5oz)
Extremely Low Birth Weight (ELBW)	Birth weight < 1,000g (2lbs 3oz)
Premature	Born between 35-37 weeks
Very Preterm	Born between 29-34 weeks
Extremely Preterm	Born between 24-28 weeks

Aims of Neonatal Nutrition

Short Term

Survival after birth
To mimic the growth and development that occurs in utero (2-3 times higher than that of term infants i.e. 18-20g/kg/day)

Long Term

To allow maximum attainment of potential growth and development

Problems associated with preterm infants

Lower immune system response
Susceptible to infection
More vulnerable
Delayed colonisation with good bacteria
Immature renal function
Immature gastrointestinal gut
Lower body reserves

Incidence of preterm infants in Ireland

5% of infants in Ireland are born low birthweight (LBW) <2500g (CSO 2005)
1/3 of preterm births occur for no apparent reason
In Ireland the neonatal mortality rate per 1,000 live births has decreased¹

Year        Rate

2005        2.7

2006        2.7

2007        2.1

Breastfeeding Preterm Infants

For information on Cow&Gate Breastmilk Fortifier please click here.

Bottle feeding premature infants

Glossary of terms

AGA – appropriate weight for gestational age
SGA- small for gestational age due to due to poor intrauterine growth
Corrected Age – chronological age adjusted according to how early baby is born i.e.baby now is 10 weeks old, born 5 weeks premature. Corrected age = 5 weeks

References

1. Central Statistics Office. Report on Vital Statistics 2006 and 2007 (Online at www.cso.ie)

Cow&Gate Survey