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Full-term babies born early may suffer adverse health outcomes later in life

September 29, 2017

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Researchers at the University of Queensland reported this week that full-term babies born just a few weeks early are more likely to have poor physical fitness throughout life compared with babies of longer gestation.

The average human gestation period is 40 weeks, and a baby born after 37‑42 weeks is considered to be full term. It is well known that babies born pre-term, ie, before 37 weeks are prone to neurological, cognitive, and respiratory morbidity. However, with a trend towards shorter gestation periods becoming apparent, the question arose as to whether this affected the baby’s health.

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