When premature labor develops and cannot be stopped, the health care team will prepare for a high-risk birth. The mother may be moved to a center that specifically cares for premature infants in, for example, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

After birth, the baby is admitted to a high-risk nursery. The infant is placed under a warmer or in a clear, heated box called an incubator, which controls the air temperature. Monitoring machines track the baby's breathing, heart rate, and level of oxygen in the blood.

Infants are usually unable to coordinate sucking and swallowing before 34 weeks gestation. Therefore, the baby may have a small, soft feeding tube placed through the nose or mouth into the stomach. In very premature or sick infants, nutrition may be given through a vein until the baby is stable enough to receive all nutrition in the stomach. (See: Neonatal weight gain and nutrition)

If the infant has breathing problems:

• A tube may be placed into the windpipe (trachea). A machine called a ventilator will help the baby breathe.
• Some babies whose breathing problems are less severe receive continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) with small tubes in the nose rather than the trachea. Or they may receive only extra oxygen.
• Oxygen may be given by ventilator, CPAP, nasal prongs, or an oxygen hood over the baby's head.

Nursery care is needed until the infant is able to breathe without extra support, feed by mouth, and maintain body temperature and a stable or increasing body weight. In very small infants, other problems may complicate treatment and a longer hospital stay may be needed.

There are multiple support groups for parents of premature babies. Ask the social worker in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Prematurity used to be a major cause of infant deaths. Improved medical and nursing techniques have increased the survival of premature infants. The longer the pregnancy, the greater the chance of survival. Of babies born at 28 weeks, at least 90% survive.

Prematurity can have long-term effects. Many premature infants have medical, developmental, or behavioral problems that continue into childhood or are permanent. The more premature an infant and the smaller the birth weight, the greater the risk of complications. However, it is impossible to predict a baby's long-term outcome based on gestational age or birth weight.

Possible complications that may occur while in the hospital include:

• Anemia
• Bleeding into the brain (intraventricular hemorrhage of the newborn) or damage to the brain's white matter (periventricular leukomalacia)
• Infection or neonatal sepsis
• Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
• Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, extra air in the tissue of the lungs (pulmonary interstitial emphysema), bleeding in the lungs (pulmonary hemorrhage)
• Newborn jaundice
• Patent ducturs arteriosus
• Severe intestinal inflammation (necrotizing enterocolitis)

Possible long-time complications include:

• Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)
• Delayed growth and development
• Mental or physical disability or delay
• Retinopathy of prematurity, vision loss, or blindness

Call your health care provider if you are pregnant and believe you are going into labor prematurely.

If you are pregnant and not receiving prenatal care, call your health care provider or your state's department of health. Most state health departments have programs that provide prenatal care to mothers, whether or not they have insurance or are able to pay.