Premature Births Steady

NEW YORK — With recent advances in treatment, more than half of the babies born weighing less than two pounds will survive and lead normal lives, pediatricians say. But little progress has been made at reducing the incidence of premature births.

In 1984, 6.7% of all babies born in the United States were low birth-weight babies, weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces, according to the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington. Twelve out of 1,000 were very low birth-weight babies, born at less than three pounds.

While survival rates for such infants have climbed dramatically during the last few decades, the incidence of prematurity has scarcely changed. In 1950, 7.5% of all babies were low birth weight. And the incidence of low and very low birth-weight children among blacks is more than double the rate among whites in the United States.

Common Problem

“Being born early is a relatively common problem in the United States,” says Dr. George Little, a neonatologist--a specialist in the care of newborn infants--at Dartmouth University.

Blindness is one of the serious consequences of prematurity. Other long-term complications of extreme prematurity include cerebral palsy, mental retardation and chronic lung disease.

The likelihood of serious problems climbs sharply the more premature an infant is.

“If you’re born a month early, your problems are usually not too great,” Little says. “If you’re born two months early, your problems are greater. If you’re born three months early, you’re getting to the area where survival is not that great.”