My relative and friend has just given birth by c-section to her baby daughter 3 weeks and 4 days before her due date. The c-section was because baby was breach and it happened early because her waters broke. Is this early enough to make her baby a premature baby? (I'm confused because it seems she was given conflicting info by the hospital I think)

I am delighted and can't wait to see her!

She was not expecting baby to arrive early and I'm sure she will have lots of questions etc for me as I recently had my little one.

I am just wondering - what, if any, difference will being born early make to her baby? Is she more likely to be sleepy? Would she have a corrected age of 3 weeks 4 days younger than she is for hitting milestones etc? Or not - because 37 weeks is considered full term? Not sure if it's relevant or not but she weighs 5 pounds 5 oz.

Sorry for all the questions it's just something I know nothing about! And I would like to know a little bit just so I am informed and have a little knowledge about any specific needs my friend or her baby might have so I know best how to help out and that - if that makes sense?

Thanks!

So, she was 36+3? That's ever so slightly early, so she is technically 4 days premature; but I imagine she'll be treated like a term baby. Our EDDs are just that - estimated due dates, so it's possible she's actually term or maybe even earlier. I think the proof will be in when the paediatricians examine her - if they think she's more like a term baby than a preemie, she'll be treated as such. That's a reasonable weight for that gestation as well. I hope your friend has a speedy recovery from her section and that her and baby are well.

My LO was born at 36+4 as emergency c-section and he was considered "borderline preemie"... one nurse referred to him as "tweenie" (term/preemie).

At the hospital they were most concerned with his fast heartrate and lack of bodyfat to regulate his temp. I honestly think his heartrate had to do with the fact they pulled him out of me when he was snoozing and woke up startled in the nurses arms!! lol

They had him in the special care nursery for 5 days to make sure he gained weight (was born at 6 lbs even) and didn't have any breathing issues. He was totally fine and gained weight on the 5th day so was released. One of the nurses mentioned that under 6 lbs they tend to watch the preemies closely and need to make sure they gain before discharging them.

My little guy was pretty sleepy for the first few days, and ate very slowly and kept falling asleep while eating, so we had to touch his cheek and prod him awake during his feedings. The midwife also showed us how to train his suck reflex by putting on a hospital glove and gently touch the roof of his mouth, then his tongue... this worked really well and he practiced his sucking to be a better feeder.

I think with milestones, it won't be much different. Growth spurts seemed to be pretty frequent and he's gained nicely with bfeeding.

I think some of the best advice I took was about doing a lot of skin-to-skin with him. It kept him nice and calm and regulated his heartbeat as well as getting my milk to come in on day 3 (quicker then the mw thought it would... she told me day 4 or 5 with a c-section).

I don't think it'll make a huge difference hun! She was only days' off being full term, and all babies themselves do things in their own time, its just an average so to speak. There wont be 'corrected ages' and stuff either, the few days will be irrelvant.

Thanks everyone