What is prognosis for a 34 week baby?

Question

My daughter in law is in hosp. and they are trying to stop her labor, but so far she is 6cm dilated and still having some contractions. She will have to have c-section as she is unable to deliver vaginally. The doctors are very concerned, and it looks as though the baby will probably be born within the next 48 hours.

My question is, what are the potential problems we are looking at with a 34 week baby? Prefer those in medical field or with practical experience to answer, I have read online information already.

Thanks for any input.

Answer 1

I'm a neonatal intensive care nurse and have cared for many 34 weekers. In my experience babies born at 34 weeks have a very good outcome. Usually they require hospitalisation for 2-4 weeks to gain weight and learn how to feed. Some times they require a little help breathing after birth and are put on CPAP for a short time to provide a little extra pressure to expand their under developed lungs, however many 34 weekers cope well.

Best of luck to your daughter in law and her little one and congratulations on becoming a grandma!

Answer 2

My daughter was a 32 week preemie and my condition was very similar to this one. I went into labor and she was born within 12 hours, even with the best attempts to stop the labor. The answers from the NICU nurse are very reasuring, and my personal experience is the same - both as the mother of a preemie and as an EMT.

What you can do for your daughter-in-law is to see if you can locate some premie clothes. I found that doll clothes, expecially those for the Cabbage Patch dolls were the best fit (my daughter weighed under 4 pounds at birth and was under 4 1/2 pounds 2 1/2 weeks later when she went home). I have some very good preemie outfits and a pattern that I would be more than willing to share. When my daughter was in the NICU we needed to provide some easy to change clothes that would allow the various monitors to be attached. These are great for that.

She will also need an extra head support for the little one's car seat, will need several weeks worth of preemie diapers until she/he fits in newborn ones, and hats to keep her/his heat in.

My daughter is now 8, is the top in her class (even though she's the youngest), is extremely tall for her age (she also the tallest in the class) and very athletic.

With your love and support for mom and the baby, I think everything will be just fine. Things will be a little tense for a few weeks and there are some adjustments with early little ones, but as the NICU nurse mentioned, 34 week preemies have very good outcomes normally.

Congratuations on the new grandchild!