Wednesday 17 August 2022 07:07 PM Premature babies perform worse in secondary school, study finds trends now
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Children who are born prematurely perform worse in secondary school, a study suggests.
A study by Oxford University found those delivered before 32 weeks into a pregnancy were a quarter less likely to get five GCSEs than their peers.
Previous research has shown that youngsters born before 37 weeks achieve poorer grades in primary school but it was thought to disappear when they became a teen.
Preterm babies are at greater risk of learning difficulties due to being born before their brains are fully developed.
The earlier a baby is born, the greater risk of these issues occurring, which can continue to affect their development as they grow.
Oxford researchers analysed data from more than 7,000 British children, 2000 of which were born earlier than normal.
They found those born before 32 weeks were 26 per cent less likely to pass five GSCEs compared to those born after 39 weeks, considered a full term pregnancy.
They were also up to 106 per cent more likely to not get the expected grade in English and mathematics in primary school.
Even babies born just a few weeks premature had a 21 per cent higher risk of getting worse primary school marks.
The authors children who were preterm babies could benefit from extra support in nursey to ensure they don't fall behind when they start school.
Babies born before 37 weeks have an increased chance of developing learning difficulties as they grow up that can impact their schooling (stock image)
This chart shows the increased risk children were born preterm had of not achieving expected scores in English and mathematics by the end of primary school. The vertical black bar represents the expected results of child born full term, having a horizontal black line to the right of the bar indicates an increased risk of poor performance. The length of the line represents the range of results, with the diamond indicating the average. The relative risk score for each preterm category is
