The required care for premature infants differs greatly depending on the child's gestational age, birth weight, and overall maturity. Measures common among extremely premature infants include:
* Placing the infant in a warmer or isolette. Premature infants are easily susceptible to cold-stress or hypothermia and infection, and preventing these is a key priority.
* Infants under 32 weeks typically do not produce enough surfactant in their lungs to enable them to breathe on their own. In these cases, surfactant will be administered to assist them.
* A breathing tube may be inserted in the infant's trachea, and a ventilator and supplemental oxygen may be used.
* Adequate nutrition, via a feeding tube or, in extremely premature infants, intravenously. If a feeding tube is used, expressed breast milk from the mother or a breastmilk bank can be used, which lowers the risk of infections such as necrotizing enterocolitis.
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