re: #111 jackw33

Yeah. The babies just magically disappear from the womb and ride off on the unicorns

You keep using this word “babies”.

The earliest surviving premature birth was 21 weeks 6 days. It’s still described as a miracle.

The earliest sustained survival point is 23 weeks. It require an advanced NICU (Natal Intensive Care Unit) and a lot of luck, and still a large proportion don’t survive. The current survival rate (source: March of Dimes, Quint Boenker Preemie Survival Foundation, see preemiesurvival.org) for 23 weeks is 17%. 5 out of six born at that age will die, which is better than the ~1% survival rate of a mere week earlier. BTW, NICUs cost money. A lot of money, of which insurance companies pay only a part.

It takes till 27 weeks for premature birth survival rates to reach 90%.

If it isn’t viable, it isn’t a baby.