adults who were born premature

Are there any studies regarding the psychological profiles of adults that were born premature? I was wondering about not only their intellectual growth but also their isolation from their mothers resulting from spending time in an incubator. I weighed 5 lbs when I was born and spent five days in an incubator without my mothers contact. I was just curious if there are any studies done on this topic.

I would like to know, also. I was born three pounds!:eek:

Here you go. It’s really hard to access though…
http://www.prematurity.org/research/helen-packets-list.htm

I dunno about adults that were born premature… although I’m sure there’s been lots of premature babies! :smiley:

Lol, fatdave.
I was born at 5 lbs and one month early, but didn’t spend time in the incubator (I could be wrong though, it was a long time ago and my memory is fuzzy :wink: ). As far as growth:

Studies-I’ve always done well in school, my mom said I talked earlier than the average age.
Socially-I haven’t fared so well, always been very shy and at 26.
Physically-I’m very very small. On the other hand, I’m the 5’6" as my grandfather was. People in my family are either short or tall, not much in between.

Although I know that isn’t exactly what you were looking for, being that I was never isolated. I think if it’s affected anything, it has been my size but even that could be explained by other factors.

I’m told I came down the chute a few weeks early, which means my birthday should have been in mid-November. Which is nine months after mid-February. Happy Valentine’s Day :dubious:

My early youth was marked by:

-high IQ: 140
-Very poor hand/eye coordination
-Very poor eyesight 20/400

(This is my first post, so please excuse any mistakes!)

I was born 5 weeks early, and one thing my mom keeps attributing to being a preemie is my ultra-high sensitivity to touch and textures.

I am VERY particular about what comes in contact with my skin (material wise) and I am also very particular about how people touch me. If someone came by with a feather, I’d bop 'em quite hard. However, give me a deep massage and I’m in heaven.

I’m a picky eater too. Not so much with the taste of food, but with the textures… tomato’s are slimey, coconut is crunchy, etc.

In the work I’ve done with other preemie’s (special needs kids mostly), they’ve also reacted this way.

Born 3 months premature here.
Academically and athletically above average.
Socially, not so good. :slight_smile:
Physically, I’m nearly the same as my grandfather on my mother’s side. 5’6" / 150 lbs.
Extremely poor eyesight and severe to profound deafness though.
Spent about 3 months in an incubator. I weighed just about 2 lbs and was about 12" long at birth. This was back in '68.

All the premies I have ever known – including one of my best friends who weighed 2.2 lbs at birth – appear, to me at least, to have the following in common:

  1. Shorter-than-average stature: 5’6" and shorter for men, 5’0" and shorter for women;

  2. Extremely anal retentive personality;

  3. Some type of congenital physical impairment, whether it be a heart murmur, poor vision, etc.

  4. For guys, “Napoleon” complex (perhaps a function of their height); for women, waifish ways.

(I think the developement of intelligence and talent is a function of genetics and environment, and has little to do with whether someone was born underweight or premature, unless their was neurological damage.)

Well, I was born 2½ months prematurely, and I’m exactly average height: 5’ 11". My twin sister is exactly average height, too. I know a “premie” who is 6’ 4" and weighs appr. 230 lbs, no fat. I have none of the attributes you list, neither do the six other prematurely born people I know.

3 weeks premature.

5’ 11" 155 lbs

I think I turned out OK.

The only two people I know that were born premature are 6’3” and 6’4” respectively and over 230 pounds each. Also their personalities are completely different, almost no similarities at all.

Personally, I think they are just over compensating for being small when they were little. :wink:

Not that anecdotes are useful, but I was born 1 month premature and weighed 5 lbs. I’m 6’1", 190 lbs, above average intelligence, comfortable socially and with no major ailments, other than mild asthma. Oh yeah, I don’t think I have any issues related to “mommy separation”, either, though I was only in the incubator for a couple of days. My Dad was a Dr. and was able to bring me home sooner than would’ve been expected.

I was born 3 months premature, at 2 pounds and change (1 kg).

I have poor eyesight, but am not small in stature (178 cm).

What did do a number on me was being advanced in school so that I was always younger and smaller that those around me. Hmm. That’s the first time I’ve thought of that.

Another 1968 premature baby here - 3 and a half punds then, now I am 5’8 and not waifish at all.
I do have very bad eyesight, but according to my mum, I was fine until I got the german measles at 9, after which I couldn’t see a thing, so I have never thought it might be related to my being premature.

My brother was the same weight and the same amount premature in 1971 and he is tall with 20/20 vision.

Any effect resulting from mother isolation? I have no idea, how would you measure that?
If you had two full genetic siblings, both premature, both raised in the same environment, how could you say what effect incubator time had on them?

A friend of mine was born on time and weighed in at ten pounds!, but I think his brother was almost a month premature and weighed like 2 pounds but he lived and seems healthy

My oldest daughter (almost 9) was 2 pounds at birth and a little over 3 months early. She was in the hospital until her due date.

Nowadays they have the parents hold the baby as much as possible because it apparently helps them pull through quicker and it also keeps that mother/child bond that’s supposed to be there.

She’s has no long term effects physically or emotionally (so far).

She is independent and does better than average in school but that could totally unrelated.

I was born three months premature myself and spent the first five months of my life in an incubator - this was after they had actually put me aside because I’d die anyway - apparently I was such a fighter that they decided to give me a chance.

I can’t remember what my mom told me i weighed back then, but about half a normal baby I think.

The doctors told my mom that IF I survived I’d probably be an imbecile. Today I am a high school teacher with an university degree in math and physics, so I suppose they let anybody get a degree these days;).

I am a little below average height (168cm), slender - no sight or hearing troubles. Apart from my height, I wouldn’t credit anything about my body to my premature birth.

I’d like to think that my intelligence is above average, but who knows:)

Socially I am fairly adept, not really having any trouble there. I have a few really close friends, but I don’t think that’s related to my premature birth either.

Just my anecdote, sorry for my bad english:)
-Tikster

My neice was a month early, but weighed a healthy 8 lbs (can you imagine how big she would have been at term? YOUCH)

She has exactly what you have, and it’s called Sensory Defensiveness. It’s amazing what bothers her. Light touches seem to bother her most. She loves being hugged hard and having backrubs, but trace your finger over her skin and you can see her cringe.

Along with this, we just found out that she is tongue tied. Explains part of her speech problems, which she had been taking therapy for since she has significant hearing loss in her right ear.

When she was born both of her lungs collapsed and we almost lost her. She’s a fairly healthy and happy 5 year old now who is 1/2 size behind her 7 year old sister.

I was born on time, only weighing 4 lbs 5 oz. I was in an incubator for a few weeks. I get chest colds easily, but I’m not sure if it has anything to do with being so tiny.