All of the treatments your baby receives in the neonatal unit will come with some risks, but will be given because the benefits carry more weight. It is unfortunate that sometimes there are complications. Trusting that the doctors and nurses are carrying out the best care possible for your baby is important when your baby is undergoing treatment. In an emergency, they may or may not have time to go through the potential side effects listed below. The medical staff will, however, be vigilant in checking your baby for them, and, as the most valuable members of the care team, we hope you feel empowered to ask them questions based on the information that follows.

Chronic lung disease is usually diagnosed when a premature baby still needs extra oxygen at 36 weeks. Sometimes this is a result of the extra support they’ve needed to breathe while in the hospital, and the likelihood is that they will outgrow it in the coming months. If your baby is ready to go home, they will be sent home on oxygen, and your nurses will explain how to support them.

An intraventricular haemorrhage is a sort of brain bleed. The blood vessels in a newborn’s brain are extremely fragile and can easily rupture. The more premature a baby is, the greater the risk of this happening. Symptoms can include apnoea, anaemia, swollen fontanelles, and seizures. An intraventricular haemorrhage can easily be seen on an ultrasound scan. This can be done without moving a baby and won’t hurt at all. The extent of the bleeding tells the doctors how serious the long-term consequences might be. The severity is usually graded between one and four. Grades one and two usually don’t come with long-term consequences, while grade four means there is significant bleeding into the brain. It could seriously impact multiple aspects of your baby’s development, from their ability to walk to speech development and comprehension, leaving them with the long-term issues we’ll cover later in this Journey.

Necrotising enterocolitis is a potentially fatal inflammatory bowel condition. The exact cause is unknown, but it is associated with preterm babies and the feeding support provided to them. Symptoms include a swollen tummy, vomiting, and blood in a baby’s poo. Mothers of premature babies are strongly encouraged to express breastmilk or breastfeed in order to prevent NEC. If it develops, doctors will arrange an X-ray, stop milk feeds, and start antibiotics. If a baby becomes very ill with this, they may need surgery.

A pneumothorax is a tiny hole in the lung that is letting air out. The air then becomes trapped in the space between the lung and the chest wall, causing the lung to collapse. It can happen at any time but is more common if a baby has the continuous positive airway pressure we mentioned in Article Five of the Premature Baby Journey: What equipment may be used on my baby? A pneumothorax can be relatively insignificant and cause no major problems, or it can develop very quickly and be quite dangerous, resulting in a baby’s rapid deterioration and requiring urgent treatment. Air leaks can be treated by inserting a tube into the chest to allow the trapped air to escape. Your baby should be given pain relief for this procedure.

Finally, premature babies are more vulnerable to infections than term babies, and their risk increases when they have lines inserted into their bodies and fluids introduced through these lines. Your medical team will take great care to prevent this from happening and treat any infections with antibiotics. Your baby may have blood, urine, or cerebrospinal fluid taken if your doctor suspects an infection. Every effort will be made to keep your baby comfortable. The wait time for the results—48 hours—can feel like an ordeal, but it is essential to proper testing.

What if there are treatment complications for my premature baby?