Babies are a wonderful thing, they represent hope, they are cute, round and pink and innocent. Unfortunately, medicine hasn’t quite figured out all the problems babies have when being born, and there are still many things we don’t understand when referring to newborns.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is one of those things that can’t be explained and a recent study suggests that late premature babies are more likely to suffer from health problems than babies born on term. Late premature babies are born between 34 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, while full-term babies are born between 37 and 41 weeks of pregnancy.

According to the study, late pre-term babies are likely to suffer from cerebral palsy, a condition that affects the motor skills, causing tremors and which is not life threatening. The data suggests that late pre-term babies are 3 times more likely to suffer from this condition than full term babies. The problem is that late-term babies are usually treated in hospitals as full-term babies, as they appear healthy and normal.

Apparently, late premature babies need just as much attention as premature newborns, as they are more likely to suffer from various health problems.

The study was conducted by examining the neurological development of 140,000 babies born between 2000 and 2004 in Northern California. The babies had gestation periods starting from 30 weeks, placing some of them in the late premature category. The study is regarded as being very important, as it highlights a link between cerebral palsy and late premature babies.