You are in Our Sponsors . Program It s very common for a premature baby to have breathing problems. The severity of the problem may depend on how prematurely your baby was born. A premature baby s lungs aren t as fully developed and ready to breathe as a full-term baby s. Let s look now at some common problems associated with breathing.
Apnea is very common among premature babies in the early weeks of life.
For a tiny baby this means the heart is beating fewer than 100 times a minute. This is considered slow for a baby, even though an adult heart rate is usually much slower. Small adhesive monitoring pads or sensors are placed on the baby s skin to detect chest movements as he breathes and to pick up the impulses of his heartbeat. Wires attached to the pads transmit the information to a machine next to your baby s bed. If your baby s vital signs become abnormal, an alarm will sound.