Preterm birth, that is birth prior to 37 completed weeks’ gestation, is associated with more challenges to health, growth and child development compared with birth at term (≥37 weeks’ gestation).

Increasingly, there is evidence pointing towards the negative impact on parents, in particular parental mental health.

Advances in perinatal care have seen a dramatic rise in the survival of infants born preterm. For the most immature babies born extremely preterm (<28 weeks’ gestation), survival to two years has risen by more than one-third in Victoria; from 53% (births in 1991-92) to 74% (births in 2016-17).¹

Ninety-one per cent of babies born very preterm (<32 weeks’ gestation) in Australia and New Zealand survive to school age and older.² However, these children are at increased risk of a range of long-term problems affecting their health, growth and development.