A baby's lungs do a lot of maturing during the last few weeks of the 40-week gestational period. And technically speaking, 37 weeks and beyond is considered full-term. If a baby is born before 37 weeks, then their risk for having respiratory problems after delivery is high, because the lungs aren't fully mature yet. And even at 37 weeks, sometimes babies still need a little bit of breathing assistance, because the lungs aren't fully mature. If a doctor foresees that the woman is at risk for delivering prematurely, they'll recommend steroid injections. And this is a medication called betamethasone that is given to the woman, and it hastens the baby's lung maturity so that if they're born prematurely, then hopefully their lungs will be a little bit more mature than they would have been without the injection, and it has been shown to improve outcomes after delivery.

To specifically answer your question, you thought that 34 weeks was far enough along for a baby's lungs to be mature. And again, this is premature, so in short, anytime a baby is born before 37 weeks, the staff available at the delivery is always anticipating the need for respiratory assistance after the baby is born. Good luck with everything, and if you have more questions in the future for me, feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at [ Ссылка ], and recommend us to your friends and family too.

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