Families go through tough times if a baby is born with health complications. The situation of families with preterm babies (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) is not hard to imagine: prayer on the lips, trying everything to help the baby recover, heightened concerns.

Niloufer Hospital’s neonatal department is witnessing a record number of 1,000 in-patient admissions per month with premature baby deliveries rising in hospitals. Of all the in-patients, nearly 6 per cent are less than 1 kg in weight, whereas 20 per cent of the in-patients are between 1-1.5 kg, say doctors.

With 1 in 10 newborns being born preterm and complications related to premature babies being high, there is a need to increase awareness among would-be parents. Babies born before 37-week gestation, at least three weeks earlier than the expected date of delivery, are termed premature babies.