From Ralf Biernacki
There is no significant improvement in the survival rates of very premature babies as you reported (8 December, p 7), because there has been no significant advancement in medical technology. Premature babies are still kept in incubators.
The big barrier for earlier-born babies is maturity of the respiratory system, which is incapable of supplying the body with oxygen. Yet modern technology would appear to make possible the development of a rudimentary artificial placenta, where oxygen as well as nutrients can be supplied directly to the infant’s bloodstream.
With no need to breathe air, babies could be kept in liquid tanks, approximating the environment of the womb.
This could push the limit of viability further back, probably allowing the survival of babies much younger than 22 weeks, and with fewer complications.
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Elblag, Poland
