Premature Babies is it hereditary.

Hello everyone, Im so proud to announce i have just become a grandmother for the first time. Baby was born 8 weeks early, after 4 weeks in hospital baby is now home with his Mum and Dad. I am wondering though because i too had a premature baby at 30 weeks is it possible that maybe genetics may have come into play and that is why my daughter has had an early delivery as well. Is there anyone out there that may be able to offer some thoughts on this matter. It really has got me wondering as i have had 5 children and all bar one was premature and it was actually the last child that stayed in the longest when doctors said that number five would probably be early as well. Looking forward to hearing if anyone else has experienced a similar situation. Thank you from Trish.

Firstly,

congratulations on becoming a grandma... so glad your daughters wee little one is doing well.

I myself was born 12 weeks early.. to date i have had DD1 born at 38 weeks, DD2 born at 40 weeks and DD3 born at 38 weeks (induced).

However, my sister who was born 8 weeks early had my nephew 14 weeks early.

When i was talking to my gyno he advised that there is no link with prematurity with regard to genetics. But i am sure there would be someone who would be able to prove there is smile

It can be, depending on what the circumstances were. I had PET which is a hereditary condition which caused me to have an emergency c section at 30 weeks, I had also developed HELLP Syndrome. The baby had stopped growing at 24 weeks, so again was alot of complex conditions. So basically, we were told it can be depending on what condition was causing the problem to begin with.
smile

Hello everyone, Im so proud to announce i have just become a grandmother for the first time. Baby was born 8 weeks early, after 4 weeks in hospital baby is now home with his Mum and Dad. I am wondering though because i too had a premature baby at 30 weeks is it possible that maybe genetics may have come into play and that is why my daughter has had an early delivery as well. Is there anyone out there that may be able to offer some thoughts on this matter. It really has got me wondering as i have had 5 children and all bar one was premature and it was actually the last child that stayed in the longest when doctors said that number five would probably be early as well. Looking forward to hearing if anyone else has experienced a similar situation. Thank you from Trish.

Congratulations on becoming a grandmother! Baby must be doing very well to be home after 4 weeks.
I have wondered about this question too - but most research says no. Except if there is a known hereditary medical condition that contributes to it. My son was born 34w +1day (only child so far). My mum's first child was born at 33w (unfortunately still born - died during labour). Yet I was 3 weeks late?

But I think having one prem child increases your risk of further prem births. And I have read somewhere that prem births are increasing?

Best wishes to you and your family!

I have no idea about the statistics however all of my mother's children were born at 35-36 weeks. My first was born at 32 weeks and my second was born at 38 weeks but only after several weeks bed rest.

Hi there, I have just had my first baby naturally at 30weeks. She came so fast they couldnt stop my labour. I am one of 5 children in my family and we were all full term. So its not heridarty I have been told its just random. The Neo natal and Doctors/peditrician have told me subsequent pregnancies are likely to be prem too.

I have been told it is not hereditary...

BUT it can definitely be hereditary when linked to a medical condition. Most of my maternal relatives pregancies have brought on Pre-eclampsia. Many of Nan's 7 pregnancies were prem, my mother had 2 out of 3 prem and my aunt had all prems, all due to PE (they almost lost my Aunt with her first).
I knew I would have a prem but most people didn't listen, including my Drs'. I wasn't at all shocked when I was induced in Nov 09 at 33+4 weeks with PE. The nurse jokingly told me our family should be studied.
I definitely believe our familys' PE and resulting prem births are hereditary even after the Dr telling me it wasn't possible!

Everyone is different though, and you never know, there may be some undicovered genetic trait that causes it. The only real answer is that more research really needs to be done into it to prove one way or another.