Being born prematurely is linked to an increased risk of a range
of mental health problems much later in life, according to
researchers. Bipolar disorder, depression and psychosis were all
more likely, the study in The Archives of General Psychiatry
suggested. The overall risk remained very low, but was higher in
premature babies. Experts cautioned there have since been
significant advances in caring for premature babies. Full-term
pregnancies last for around 40 weeks, but one in 13 babies are
born prematurely, before 36 weeks. Researchers at the Institute
of Psychiatry at King’s College London and the Karolinska
Institute in Sweden analysed data from 1.3m people born in
Sweden between 1973 and 1985. They found 10,523 people were
admitted to hospital with a psychiatric disorders, 580 of those
had been born prematurely. The academics showed full-term
children had a two in 1,000 chance of being admitted. The risk
was four in 1,000 for premature babies born before 36 weeks and
six in 1,000 for those born before