Is this baby considered a premie?

egad76

One of my supervisors is going on and on about her tiny premie grandchild.

The baby was born at 37w2d, weighed 6lbs8oz and was 20in long.

I mean, under 7 is on the smaller side, but is this technically a premie?

Kitiara5512

I dont think my doc counts anything over 36 weeks as a preemie, especially since they will schedule someone to be induced after 37 weeks based on baby being big and have no issues with it.

kcl22

Isn't 37 weeks considered term? And fwiw I know term infants who were in the 6-7 pound range. It's small but not tiny

embersoul

Technically, no. We'd consider 37 weeks a full-term baby, regardless of size. (I'm a NICU nurse).

kmahany

37 weeks is considered full term.

sillypit

The preemie moms can correct me if I'm wrong, but there are 2 terms I believe.  Pre-term and Pre-mature.  Pre-term is before 37 weeks and pre-mature is under 5.5lbs or somewhere around there. 

My DD was born at 38w6d at 6lbs2oz and was full term and not pre-mature (and obviously smaller than the baby noted above)

RobinSparkles214

I always thought 37 weeks was considered term. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong.

jessakris

No. 37 weeks is considered full term. 

And interestingly enough, I get comments like this from people all the time. When I tell someone that Sophie was born at 38 weeks and was 5 lbs, 15 oz, they say, "Oh, so she was a preemie, then?" I guess there are a lot of people that don't have an understanding of what it means.

Kate621

No. Most doctors consider 37 weeks full term. There is always a chance that the mom had her dates wrong. Being a preemie is defined by gestational age, not weight.

Rach7170

sillypit:

The preemie moms can correct me if I'm wrong, but there are 2 terms I believe.  Pre-term and Pre-mature.  Pre-term is before 37 weeks and pre-mature is under 5.5lbs or somewhere around there. 

My DD was born at 38w6d at 6lbs2oz and was full term and not pre-mature (and obviously smaller than the baby noted above)

This is correct. If you are born before 37 weeks you are a preemie, after and you are term. There are other classes of preemies such as late term or micro, but  I won't get into that.

The woman's grandchild is niether a preemie nor pre-mature, just on the smaller side of average.

mrs.cam

37 weeks is full term and low birth weight is under 5.5 lbs.

egad76

I didn't think it was a premature baby either. The way she keeps talking about it though makes me think she just wants attention. (She is that kind of person anyway.)

egad76

Kate621:

No. Most doctors consider 37 weeks full term. There is always a chance that the mom had her dates wrong. Being a preemie is defined by gestational age, not weight.

I kind of thought this too.

my*heart*is*his

37 weeks is full-term. I have two 34-weekers who have been referred to as "late pre-term births". They are technically preemies, but not in the same sense as babies born 32 weeks or earlier.

There is actually some research going on now for "late pre-term babies" to investigate breathing and sleeping patterns, plus some blood research to determine possible causes of late pre-term labor.

jpsen

LO was born at 36 weeks and was 6lbs 5oz.  I dont consider her a premie (and her dr's never called her that either). 

Over Zealous

Some of the confusion comes with the March of Dimes wording that term is upon the completion of 37 weeks (so as far as they are concerned 37 and 5/7 would not be considered term) but most doctors consider 37 weeks even term.

heatherglen814

At my hospital, the nurses and doctors considered any baby born before 37w7d a premie. Their full term was stressed in their classes as 37 and 7. There was no exception. I guess it really depends on your hospital and doctor.

Jessi+Aiden

I might be wrong, but I believe anything before 38 weeks is pre-term (38wks is term) and anything under 6lbs is pre-mature. In other words, a baby who was born at 5 1/2lbs at 40 weeks could still be considered premature, and a baby born at 36 weeks who was 7 lbs would be pre-term but not premature. Does that make sense?

malt

My DS was born at 36w2d and the doctor didn't even call him pre-term. I asked, and she was like, no, he's full term. So obviously there is a lot of variation on this. FWIW he was 6pds 11oz although I don't think that should play a role in it in terms of early/lateness.