Overview
Introduction
Expecting an extremely preterm baby is a frightening thing for all women or couples who find themselves in this situation. There is much uncertainty and opinions may vary greatly as to what should be done. On this page we have tried to pull all the information together – we provide links to the two important professional documents and give overall information about survival and risk of disability.
We are sorry that the information given below is so complex, but so are the issues around extremely preterm birth. If you are anticipating such an early birth you may need some help to understand this information.
Your doctors and midwives are there to help you interpret this information and will be able to give you more up to date information about chances of survival in your local hospital.
The British Association for Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) has published a framework for professionals around the time of a birth at 22-24 weeks of gestation. They term births at this stage in pregnancy births at “borderline viability”. www.bapm.org/documents/publications/threshold.pdf
BAPM also refer to guidelines produced for use in some London hospitals which are considered to be sensible, if now a little dated. www.bapm.org/documents/publications/immature.pdf