Where should my premature baby be born?

Question: Where should my premature baby be born?

Answer:

If you are suffering from premature labor (also know as preterm labor) you may know that you are at a higher risk for having a baby who is born early. There are other reasons that you may suspect that your baby will be born before the due date that you were originally given. What you may not know is that the hospital you choose can have a significant impact on the survival rate of your premature baby.

Your baby will have a higher chance of survival if they are born in a hospital that has doctors and a medical staff that provide a high level of specialized care in a well staffed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In addition, the more newborn babies they treat that were born early or require special care, the better off your baby is likely to be.

Talk to your doctor or midwife about the choices that you have of hospitals. You may have an obvious choice where you live or you may have a couple of hospitals from which to choose. You may also need to travel to a larger city to receive the best care for your preemie.

_{Phibbs, CS, et al "Level and Volume of Neonatal Intensive Care and Mortality in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants" N Engl J Med 2007; 356: 2165-2175.}