Being born too early can affect a baby's health. In a publication published in Communication Medicine, Zhong, Danielsson, Hellström and coworkers describes the proteins present in the blood in newborns from the day they were born until their original due date.

182 extremely preterm babies born at different points in the pregnancy (gestational ages) were followed in a longitudinal study and the results demonstrated that the blood protein profiles changed in a similar way over time. This means that the age of a baby after birth, and not how early they were born, mostly affects the proteins in their blood. These findings contribute to the understanding how extremely preterm babies develop after birth, which could lead to improvements to their healthcare during the first few weeks of their life.

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Contact person: Ann Hellström (email: ann.hellstrom@medfak.gu.se)