University marks World Prematurity Day

The University of Leicester will mark World Prematurity Day (17 November) by lighting up the Attenborough Tower in purple to reflect solidarity.  

World Prematurity Day (WPD) aims to raise awareness of the impact of premature birth on families and the challenges that may be faced by preterm babies. 

Researchers at the University are working hard to help improve outcomes for those affected thanks to a number of ongoing initiatives, including the Preterm Birth Information for Education Professionals.

This free online training resource has been developed by Professor Samantha Johnson and her colleagues in the PRISM (Premature Infants’ Skills in Mathematics) Study Team.

It outlines the impact premature birth can have on a child’s development and learning and offers practical ways that schools and early years settings can support premature children if they need it. A staggering 32,000 people have benefitted from the training to date. 

 

Professor Johnson, a developmental psychologist and Professor of Child Development at the University, said: “We’re extremely proud of the work that’s taken place so far to help young people and their families. 

“Children born prematurely are more likely to have difficulties with their development and learning than children born at term. This might be through lower attention and concentration levels, memory and processing difficulties, or difficulty with social and emotional development. 

“Early identification and support can make a huge difference to a child’s wellbeing. Our training provides teachers and early years practitioners with the right information and tools to support prematurely born children and their families as they go through their school journey from early years upwards.”

Children born before 37 weeks of gestation are known as preterm, while those born before 28 weeks are known as extremely preterm. Although extremely preterm births make up only a small percentage of all births, these children are more likely than term-born children to need some degree of extra support as they grow older. 

Professor Johnson’s research has also contributed to the development of the Prem Aware Award run by The Smallest Things charity. Launched in 2020 it aims to ensure schools and early years settings are aware of the impact of prematurity so that they are better prepared to support premature children and their families.

Staff at Ladywood Primary in Derbyshire have completed the Prem Aware Award. Executive Headteacher Melanie Lawson said staff knew that the educational and developmental journey of youngsters started long before Reception.

She said the training had: “Given further insight into how we can offer support and guidance to the children and families within our school community.”

In addition, University researchers are developing a new questionnaire to provide a cost effective, parent-centred way of measuring children’s development at 4-7 years of age. 

The tool aims to advance how children’s early development is assessed and help identify any difficulties early so that evidence-based improvements to care and quality of life for children born early can be made. 

Dr Megan Foulkes, a researcher at Leicester, said: “We aim to put parents at the heart of their child’s care by developing this questionnaire. Many of the methods currently used to assess children are time-consuming, expensive and have limited parent involvement. We hope our questionnaire will provide a parent-friendly, affordable way of measuring children’s outcomes and identifying potential areas where they may need support at a crucial time in their development.”

The questionnaire will measure important aspects of children’s development, including their thinking, attention, memory, planning, problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination - important abilities which have been shown to influence how children do in school, and are also key areas in which children born preterm may need additional support. 

Professor Johnson who is leading the project added: “This important work builds upon the extensive portfolio of world-leading research carried out at the University of Leicester around improving outcomes for children born preterm.”