Premature delivered babies need extra care because they are more likely to suffer from physical or mental problems. Researchers have recently added one more effect of premature delivery upon the baby.
From their newer research, a team of researchers has claimed that the babies, who are born only few weeks early like between four and eight weeks, should also be given extra support or even psychological help because they are more likely to have behavior problems.
The findings of the study have been published online in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. In the findings, the researchers have clearly mentioned that moderately premature boys are more likely to act out their problems through their behavior as compared to the premature girls who were noted to internalize them rather than acting them out.
Prior to concluding above findings, the researchers asked the parents of all the babies to complete a questionnaire upon their children (all aged 4 years). The questionnaire included questions on issues disclosing whether their youngsters internalized or externalized their problems, if they suffered any anxiety or depression, situations when they stopped the use, if they had any sleep problems, unexplained medical complaints, problems in paying attention or aggressive behavior etc.
Results were then matched to the answers of the parents of premature babies, and it was then concluded that premature children are almost twice as likely to suffer problems overall than children born at after appropriate stay in womb. Also, it was noted that the premature girls are particularly affected more than the girls born at term to suffer a range of issues.
The authors from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands concluded: “Our results demonstrate that moderately premature children are more likely to already have behavioral and emotional problems before they enter school”.