Babies take time to develop, but many factors can cause a baby to be born prematurely. When this happens, they may not be fully equipped to survive the outside world without assistance. In particular, premature lungs can make it impossible or hard for your baby to breathe on their own. If you would like to know more about lung complications associated with premature births, keep reading.

1. Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Respiratory distress syndrome is a complication that requires premature babies to need extra oxygen and help breathing because they are not capable of doing it properly on their own yet. The reason respiratory distress syndrome makes it hard for your baby to breathe is because there isn't enough surfactant in the lungs.

Surfactant is a naturally-forming liquid that allows lungs to continually take in and release air without the alveoli collapsing after each breath. Babies born before 37 weeks may not have enough surfactant to keep the lungs open after each breath. As a result, the alveoli collapse, reducing the amount of oxygen your baby breaths and increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in their system.

2. Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

If your baby develops respiratory distress syndrome, and needs help to breathe, the device used to help your baby breathe can also cause complications. In particular, it causes swelling and scaring in the lungs. The damage usually occurs because of high oxygen levels and the pressure from the oxygen being pumped into your baby's lungs.

This can lead to long-term breathing complications. In fact, this type of lung disease is about just as common as asthma and cystic fibrosis in children. These children may also be more likely to get respiratory infections in the future, such as the flu. Another complication that may arise because of bronchopulmonary dysplasia is fluid buildup in the lungs, which reduces how much air can also fit in the airways.

3. Pneumonia

Because premature babies don't always have fully formed lungs, and many other complications can lead to fluid in the lungs, pneumonia is common in premature babies. Pneumonia is an infection in the lung. So as long as your baby has the antibodies to fight the infection, they should be fine. However, if your baby is premature, they may not have acquired your antibodies yet, making their body too weak to fight the infection alone.

For this reason, as soon as pneumonia is suspected, diagnosis and treatment needs to begin immediately. Treatment usually consists of antibiotics, and preventative measures include keeping sick people away from the baby. Luckily, pneumonia in newborns is often easily treated and leaves no long-term complications.

4. Apnea

You may have heard of sleep apnea, which happens while you are sleeping and causes you to stop breathing for a short time. Premature babies, however, are prone to get a form of apnea known as apnea of prematurity. With this condition, newborn babies randomly and repeatedly stop breathing for 15 to 20 seconds when they sleep.

The condition usually affects babies who are born before 35 weeks. Not only does it stop the breathing for a short time, but the condition also drops your baby's heart rate. Typically, babies with this condition frequently have their heart rate drop to below 80 beats per minutes, leading to pale or bluish skin.

Treatment usually involves some medications containing small amounts of caffeine and monitoring. In most cases, the condition goes away in a few months and doesn't return.



Premature babies can have a lot of complications, especially related to their lungs and breathing. If you would like to know more about premature birth complications, contact us at Advocare Lerch and Amato Pediatrics.