Infants born prematurely are much more likely to die during childhood and, if they survive, they're much less likely to have children of their own in adulthood, according to the largest study of prematurity undertaken. Researchers already knew that premature infants faced many neurological and developmental problems, but the new findings, released today, indicate that the spectrum of problems is even broader than suspected and persist throughout the child's lifetime. The study, conducted using Norwegian data, suggests that, as the percentage of premature infants who make it through their first year continues to grow because of advances in neonatology.

Full story: mercurynews.com