Prematurity & Anaemia: The Burden of Born too Early!
- drhabiba kamarul
- Jan 25
- 2 min read
Nowadays, I make it a point to ask my anaemic patients how early they were born into this world. For some, you can almost guess — their petiteness and overall growth pattern suggest prematurity. Others, however, may have thrived remarkably well despite being born early.
In the current era, many people are unaware that the survival of premature babies is largely made possible by advances in medical technology — something we often take for granted. At times, patients have no idea they were born prematurely, thanks to excellent postnatal and neonatal care.
When a human baby is born too early — say at seven months, when nature intended ten months — the baby loses almost one-third of the time meant for natural nurturing. This includes vital nutrition, oxygen transfer, brain development, and other physiological processes that we are still trying to fully understand.
From the perspective of anaemia, being born prematurely places an individual at higher risk of developing anaemia later in life. The first “wealth” a person receives is their iron store, deposited mainly in the bone marrow, liver, and spleen. This wealth is transferred gradually throughout gestation, with the peak transfer occurring in the third trimester. Logically, being born prematurely cuts this process short. Despite our best medical efforts, the nurturing provided after birth has yet to fully replicate the natural nurturing that occurs during gestation.
The effects of anaemia are often more profound in females due to physiological blood loss from cyclical menstruation once menarche is achieved. In males, the impact may be more subtle and often becomes apparent later, commonly in their thirties.
I strongly advocate that we, as doctors, take a thorough birth history and remain aware that the effects of prematurity can linger well into adulthood, influencing a patient’s health and disease patterns long after birth.
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