Infants born between 22 and 26 weeks of pregnancy are called "extremely premature." If your infant is born this early, you likely will face some hard decisions.
Your premature infant has a much greater chance than ever before of doing well. A baby has the best chance of survival in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that has a staff with a lot of experience.
Your infant may not respond well to attempts to keep him or her alive. Often it's not clear whether treatment will help an infant live—with or without disability—or will only make the dying process take longer. A specialist called a neonatologist can give you some idea of what may happen. But no one can predict what exactly willhappen. In the end it will be up to you to decide how far to continue treatment.
Having a premature baby may be stressful and scary. To get through it, you and your partner must take good care of yourselves and each other. It may help to talk to a spiritual adviser, a counselor, or a social worker. You may be able to find a support group of other parents who are going through the same thing.
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