How long should a premature baby spend in the hospital?

One of the hardest times for any parent, whether new or not, is when their baby is premature. Because, as a general rule, this usually indicates that you will have to spend some time (approximately a few weeks) in the hospital, and the parents will have little time to see you . There will be very specific visiting hours, possible complications will have to be monitored taking into account that the baby is premature, and all this will make those weeks a real ordeal. It is something that, of course, will pass and have a happy ending, but it will be a few days that will necessarily have to be lived.

Having a premature baby is very, very complicated . Especially because of the sentimental involvement it will make everything more difficult; there will be moments of fear, a long time of doubt, and days when it will seem much easier to throw in the towel than to continue the fight. But you need to keep something in mind: it will pass. It will pass, and soon you will have your baby at home, with you, and all that will be nothing more than a memory to forget. Time passes much faster than you can imagine, and although a week seems eternal, it will not be over at all.

One of the great doubts of premature parents is … How long will a baby have to be in the hospital? To answer that question we are here today, and, above all, to reassure those parents who are living in such a situation: the incubator will help them survive, even though it looks like a torture cage.

THE HOSPITAL WILL BE YOUR HOME FOR A FEW WEEKS

The first thing you should know is that, in the last twenty years, the survival rate of babies born with less than one kilogram has risen exponentially. If only 20 percent of babies born at this time survived, medical advances have made 80 percent of premature babies survive.

The work of the hospital in this sense is fundamental, with which there is something you should be clear about: this time in the incubator will help you. Although you are scared, all those sensors fill you with discomfort, that possible assisted ventilation, intravenous feeding … All this will make your premature baby live, and have a very promising future.

But when will the baby finally be able to leave the hospital? It all depends on many variables: it depends on how well he knows how to breathe and feed himself, and if he knows how to control the temperature. Normally, the baby’s weight is also taken into account : until it reaches two kilograms, the hospital is usually the best place for that premature little one. It is upon reaching two kilograms that the baby is considered to be able to survive outside of that controlled environment, and that the parents are given the opportunity to take the baby home.

But keep in mind that not all premature babies spend the same time in the incubator, despite being born more or less at the same time. It depends a lot on the characteristics that each baby presents, and a premature baby is not the same as in the eighth month of pregnancy and weighs two and a half kilos than, at that same moment, another baby is born with a kilo and a half. In addition, it depends a lot on the maturity that they have reached their essential functions.

THE INCUBATOR IS NOT THE END OF YOUR BOND WITH THE BABY

The fact that a baby spent its first weeks in the hospital does not necessarily imply that your bond with him will be lost. You can visit him whenever possible , you can accompany him in his healing process, and the more you collaborate with the doctors, the easier everything will be.

Those weeks can end up being very long, or they can go by very quickly, depending on your attitude. Of course it is not an easy situation, but it is something that, as we have indicated previously, will pass, and everything will end. Soon, your baby will be home with you, and all of this will be over!