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the term "micropreemie"

angelynn8411angelynn8411
in Preemies

is it an official term? what type of preemie does it apply to? before a certain gestation? or size?

i've heard it used often, esp in the NICU where DD was but I am not sure all of the details. TIA :)

Mom to 2 beautiful girls, 3 yrs and 22 months old. My 2nd was born at 32 weeks due to Rhogam failure/severe complications from Rh disease and is our miracle. She has bilateral auditory neuropathy and a cochlear implant, activated 4/5/2012 at 19 months. Lilypie First Birthday tickers
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Re: the term "micropreemie"

  • beachykeen1723beachykeen1723 member

    I believe it is relative to the babies weight at birth- under 2 lbs? I just googled it and this is what came up:

    To an NICU medical professional, a micropreemie or micro preemie is defined as a baby that is under 1 3/4 pounds (between 700-800 grams) and is generally born before 26 weeks gestation, but most people prefer to loosen this term up to include any baby under 3 pounds (1500 grams) or under 29 weeks gestation. Micropreemies require a lot of medical attention in order to survive, and many more micropreemies are surviving than ever before in history. The statistics for the survival of a micropreemie can range from 10-80%.

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  • Bippy798Bippy798
    Asked my mother this a while back (she is a NICU nurse) and it varies from hospital to hospital but they consider any baby born under 3lbs to be a micropreemie.
    A small start at 2lb 9oz, 60 day NICU stay, and 6 months of O2 My 30 weeker is growing up! <a href="http://s83.photobucket.com/albums/j320/bippy798/?action=view
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  • erinri02erinri02

    When my boys were first born, they had a sign posted in each of their pods that said When caring for micro-preemies etc.....

    My boys were 2.6 and 2.15, though Bryce's weight isn't exact because he was weighed in the his little cellophane blankie and it was full of fluids plus tubes.  We didn't find this out until one of his doctors pulled us aside and said either they messed up on his weight or he lost more than 15% of his body weight.  Both of them got down to 2.3 before going back up.

    I think its subjective though.  I don't fell like my boys were micro's but our NICU handled them as such.

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  • TriciaJoyTriciaJoy member

    Most everyone I know uses the term for babies <2 pounds.

    When you're looking for statistics and growth charts and such, you're looking for "Very Low Birth Weight" or VLBW stuff. Most of the medical journals differentiate between LBW (under 2500 grams, approx 5lb) and VLBW  (under 1500 grams, approx 3lb)

     

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