Lifestyle

Research says survival rates of premature babies have not improved

There has been no improvement in survival rates for babies born before 24 weeks - the current legal limit for abortion, according to research.

It backs up the findings of a large-scale study published last month which also showed no improvement in survival rates for births before 24 weeks in the past decade.

However, both that EPICure study and the research did note improvements in the survival rates for babies born at 24 and 25 weeks gestation.

According to the EPICure figures, the proportion of babies who survive at 24 weeks has increased by 8%, and those at 25 weeks by 17% since 1995.

For babies who reach 24 weeks, 47% survive, while 67% survive at 25 weeks.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), looked at survival rates over a 12-year period for 16 hospitals in the Trent region of the UK.

Professor David Field and colleagues from the University of Leicester examined the survival of all babies born before 26 weeks' gestation who were alive at the onset of labour, for the periods 1994 to 1999 and 2000 to 2005.

They found that the proportion of babies dying in delivery rooms was similar across the two periods, but there was a "significant improvement" in the number surviving to discharge.

The authors said: "Of 497 infants admitted to neonatal intensive care in 2000-5, 236 (47%) survived to discharge compared with 174/490 (36%) in 1994.

"These changes were attributable to substantial improvements in the survival of infants born at 24 and 25 weeks.