Prematurity

A preterm or premature baby is a baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Kids who are born early often spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after they are born to help get them on track for feeding and growth, as well as monitor their organ systems as they start up and get used to life on the outside. Oftentimes their lungs are not fully developed, and they will need help with breathing. Or their gut and feeding reflexes are not there just yet, and they will get help with nutrition. By the time premature babies leave the NICU, most of them have a great team of specialists to follow up with for continued treatment and monitoring for the first few months or years. 

As a pediatrician, when I have a premature kiddo in the office, I expect them to reach growth and development milestones later than their non-premature friends in accordance with how early they were in the pregnancy. But by 2 years of age, I expect most premature babies to be the same size and have the same milestone timings as their non-premature peers.

Most cities/counties have birth to three programs for premature kids to help give them the resources and specialized support they need to get ready for preschool and kindergarten. These services are usually free for families, paid for by state and local taxes.