In this five-part series, you will be able to read about premature babies and the neonatal unit.

Every year, around 110,000 babies are born in Sweden and on average 5 % of these are premature. When we say that a baby is premature, it means that it was born too early, before week 37+0. Of these premature babies, approximately 16 % are born before week 32.

Babies born prematurely often need to stay in the NICU for some time after birth to receive the support and care they need. Even a full-term baby who, for example, has difficulty breathing after birth or suffers an infection may be cared for in the NICU.

Sometimes a preterm birth can be due to an infection or illness of the pregnant woman, but most of the time there is no answer to why babies are born prematurely.

When talking about preterm babies, they are usually divided into categories. Babies born before week 28+0 are called *extremely preterm*, babies born before week 32+0 are called *very preterm* and babies born before week 37+0 are called *moderately preterm*.

When a baby arrives in the neonatal unit, the first few days are likely to be very different from what you imagined. Premature babies are more fragile and prone to infection than full-term babies, but you can rest assured that the staff working here are specially trained to care for both premature and sick babies.

As a parent, you will feel involved in the care of your child and the staff will seek your involvement more and more as the child grows. If you find it difficult not to always be on hand, you can give your child a piece of cloth with your scent near their face. And when the baby comes out of any incubator, you can hold them skin-to-skin. This releases the hormone oxytocin in both you and the baby, which is one of the hormones that makes us feel good.