Story Details

The researchers wanted to know if children who had been born pre-term or who had a severe medical condition at birth had ongoing health problems in their early years (from 1-6 years of age). Out of the 392,964 babies born in NSW between 2001-2005, it was found that it was more likely that children who were hospitalised had been born pre-term or had a severe medical condition at birth, were born to younger mothers, mothers who smoked and mothers who were not married or in a de facto relationship at the time of birth.  The most common conditions associated with hospitalisation between 1 and 6 years of age included respiratory illnesses (i.e. asthma, tonsillitis and pneumonia) and gastrointestinal infections (i.e. diarrhoea, gastroenteritis and rotavirus enteritis). Children who had been born pre-term and had a severe medical condition at birth had health problems which continued between the ages of 1-6 years.