Study: Babies born very premature face developmental issues later on

A new study suggests that babies born extremely premature could experience developmental problems later on, and early interventions may be necessary to keep them from being delayed.

Researcher and Lund University psychologist Johanna Månsson studied close to 400 babies born at 28 weeks or earlier and about 400 babies born full term, Time reports. When they turned two-and-a-half, they were given psychological tests, and Månsson found that the babies born prematurely received significantly worse scores for speech, language comprehension, cognition, and motor skills and also were more likely to have behavioral issues. "Our findings encourage behavioral assessments during preschool years and emphasize the importance of considering multifactorial pathways of prediction when examining prematurity outcome," Månsson wrote in her report.

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