Taking parents from birth through the first anxious weeks right through to age five, it explains hospital procedures, treatments and equipment and describes problems that a premature baby might face. It advises parents on what they can do to help their child and offers ideas for situations parents might face in hospital or when their child comes home. The proceeds of books sold by Tommy's go towards our research and information programme. A baby is said to be premature when it is born more than three weeks early. Every day in the UK around one hundred babies are born too small or too soon which is equivalent to 40,000 babies each year.
More babies die from being born prematurely than from any other cause.
One in every ten premature babies will develop a permanent disability such as cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness or chronic lung disease. The majority of premature births occur without any obvious cause. However, we do know that lifestyle plays an important role. Poor diet, smoking, drugs and prolonged fatigue are all factors that may trigger premature labour. Women who have a history of premature delivery, or are carrying more than one child, are also at increased risk.