Classing babies as term or preterm is not appropriate researchers say

Classing babies as either preterm or term is not appropriate, as there is an increasing risk of health factors depending on how early a baby is born.

Research published on bmj.com, finds that babies born even a few weeks early were likely to have problems with their heath.

The researchers from the Universities of Leicester, Liverpool, Oxford, Warwick and the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit studied over18,000 British babies born between September 2000 and August 2001 at the ages of nine months, three years and five years.

Babies born between 33 and 36 weeks had an increased risk of asthma and wheezing.

And those born between 32 and 38 weeks were more likely to be re-admitted to hospital in the first few months than full term babies.

The mothers who had a baby born at less than 37 weeks were more likely to be single and have few if any educational qualifications.

Mothers of very early babies were more likely to smoke and less likely to breastfeed for four or months.