How premature is a 36 weeker?

[Kickedinthetits]

I know they're all different. Mine will probably come at around 36 weeks. I've got a couple of friends who've had tiny babies at 27 weeks and 31 weeks so 36 seems hardly premature at all in comparison. But obviously I know it is a bit. What should I expect?

Not premature at all. DS born at 36 weeks 32 years ago and you wouldn't have known he was early in any way.

37 weeks is full term. A 36 seeker might be quite small but should be fine in every way. Slightly more prone to jaundice and low temp and will need fed regularly.

I had a 37 seeker (just) and a 32 seeker who came home at 35 weeks - it should be just fine.

Mine stayed in SCBU 15 days - jaundice and sucking reflex.

BY 36 weeks should should be breathing, feeding and maintaining temperature just fine, will just be a bit littler and skinnier than full term. good luck OP!

It really varies a lot. Mine was 36+1 by EMCS and I had a fair bit of the 'not really prem' and 'nearly 37 weeks' comments which I totally understand if coming from those with much earlier babies, but it was usually from term parents. As I wasn't in labour and it was EMCS he might've been 37 naturally but might've been 42 - I'll never know.

Anyway, if you can get the steroids in that will help the lungs develop. We had feeding problems - no suck reflex, jaundice and he lost a lot of weight. Now's he's 1 he's pretty much caught up on everything apart from gross motor skills but it's impossible to say if that might've happened anyway as the normal range of development is so large. Our hospital stay was 8 days but I've heard of some going straight home.

Hope all goes well

dd was 36+6 so full term technically. however she was small didn't feed well as had no suck reflex and struggled to maintain her temp and sugar levels. she was also pretty floppy . her sister born at 40+ weeks was bigger stronger and could support her head from day 1.

Mine were actually born at 35+4 (or +6 according to the hospital's dodgy method of calculation) and I was told they were big for age and would only be in SCBU for a few days etc.

Nobody told me that the sucking reflex is the last to form and this was the reason that it took 15 days to get them out of SCBU.

The larger baby had sticky lung problems at birth so needed oxygen for the first day. The smaller one stayed asleep and since they tube fed her, had no reason to wake. She was quite red and may have suffered from twin to twin transfusion - this was mentioned the first day but when I asked about it later, no one knew WTF I was talking about. I think it may have been a factor.

They had no further problems, other than an overprotective mother . They smiled at about 8 and 9 weeks. This was a long wait for me and is one of the things you don't really think about - it is amazing how much easier it is to be a mother when they start to smile back to you

It totally depends. My 36 weeker was a tiny 4 pounds, she'd stopped growing at 32 weeks.

DD was born at 36 weeks exactly, 2 days after my waters broke unexpectedly. They wanted to monitor her blood sugars but said we'd probably go home after 3 days if all was well. We stayed in for 6 days on the ward, not in special care, as she developed jaundice. Establishing feeding was a struggle. She had a sucking reflex but tired easily. I had to express and top her up with a cup but only for about a week. She was small for about 3 months then stacked on the weight quickly and caught up. She hit all her milestones perfectly from about 6 months.

It depends on the baby but also the sex (boys are generally about 2 weeks behind girls developmentally at this age). DD2 was born at 35+4 and needed around 10-15 days of phototherapy (triple at one stage).

I think it varies a lot as others have said. My twins were born at 37 weeks and were both over 6lb and just joined me on the ward, no issues.

Dear OP,
My DD was born at 33weeks. I had a few days notice (waters broke a couple of days before I went into labour) so I was able to have both steroid injections which I am sure helped. She was 4lb 13oz and was really well. She spent 9 days in SCBU until she could maintain her own blood sugars with 4hourly feeds, didn't ever need oxygen or any other support. Conversely you have have a baby born at term that struggles. The fact that you know your baby may come early means you will have the steroid injections which is the thing most likely to make a difference to how well baby does. Please try not to worry too much (easy for me to say!) and good luck.

Dc3 was 36wks+3days. 7lb 2.5oz. Only stayed in over night as he was born at night time. Once we got home however, I noticed he was jaundiced, which took a few weeks to clear.

I'd had steroids at 34wks, breathing not a problem. He slept LOADS the first month, midwife said its really common in babies who are even just a few weeks early, they wake slightly more when they reach their term date she said.

He is cmpi, and does still have trouble with wind at nearly 1, and I do think he's struggled with an under developed gut, which has taken time to catch up. But no problems otherwise.

Oh, should add, we had no problems with feeding. He latched straight away, still going strong with the bf now.

Depends on weight. Have you an estimated weight?

I had twins so completely different case, one 5lb, one 4lb - the 4 pounder had many more problems.

I'm having twins too, both girls. Were both around the 4lb2 mark at 32 weeks so good weights. Obviously don't know how growth has been since then though (currently 35 weeks). Although hiding by the size of my belly, they have continued to grow.
Interestingly midwife said they probably won't give steroid shots at this stage.

Thank you for all the stories

Hopefully your babies will do well. I think lots depends on birth weight, if they've experience problems in your pregnancy that might have affected their growth. For example if you've had pre eclampsia or blood pressure problems then the baby could be growth restricted. If they had a traumatic birth experience, for example meconium or oxygen deprived, then that could affect their lungs. If they have any congenital defects that need attention will be an issue too. All these factors affect their reserves and how well they will do in those early days. Good luck

Good luck. DS4 was born at 35+3, weighed 7lb 2oz and spent 28 days in neonatal. DS5 was born at 36+6, weighed 7lb 6oz, spent 5 days in neonatal and 3 on the ward with me. They both had breathing problems, DS4 had feeding problems and DS5 had jaundice. Technically DS5 had feeding problems too but that was mostly because of the distance between us. I'd had a crash C-section with an extended incision so could barely walk down to neonatal to feed him, they wouldn't let him have his feeding tube out because breastfeeding wasn't established and he wasn't allowed on the ward with me with no feeding tube. Thankfully one of the neonatal nurses took pity on us and brought him up to the ward for me to feed every time he cried one night. In the morning they took his tube out. He breastfed fine from then on.

I have one born at 34+0 (4lb 15) and one at 36+6 (6lb 13). The 36+6er came home after 2 days - she seemed just like a full term baby, except for being a bit more prone to reflux and digestive discomfort. Very different from my 34 weeker who spent 3 weeks in hospital, couldn't suck, had jaundice etc.

I am still waiting to see how they both do long term. "Late prems" (ie born 34 to 36+6) are unfortunately more at risk of learning and behavioural issues than full term babies - though the majority are fine.

It does depend on the weight more than the number of weeks as some IUGR babies are still tiny at 36 weeks. However yours both seem on track to be good weights so I really wouldn't worry.

37 weeks is considered full term, iirc, development is complete then and afterwards they are just gaining fat. Ds2 was IUGR and induced at 37wks. He weighed just 4lbs but was fine, just needed the light blanket for jaundice for a day or two. Lungs are the last thing to be 'finished' and this can be helped with steroids given before birth if necessary, it may not be at 36wks. So definitely don't panic

My waters broke at 36+3 and DS was born after a very very long labour ending in a c-section at 37wks & 2mins - he was 7lb and had no problems at all.
My best friend had her daughter at 35wks by planned section due to mums health and she was 6lb10, healthy and only spent one extra night in hospital.
Both are rather robust 7yos now and you'd never guess either one came a bit early.

I had dd at 36 weeks due to pre-eclampsia. She was 5lb 11,needed to be in a hot cot and have her glucose levels checked and got jaundiced quite badly, but we got out within 2 days and managed to avoid light therapy for the jaundice. She's 11 months now and on the 98th centile unadjusted