Victoria was born 11 weeks ahead of schedule and weighed less than half a kilo. Many of you will think that caffeine is the last thing a premature baby may need, but it can help babies born prematurely. In fact, it is one of the most common therapies used in premature babies because it helps stimulate the diaphragm, lungs and, most importantly, stimulates the brain to remember the baby breathing.

One in thirteen Spain babies born prematurely, ie before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Treatment of these little babies requires the intervention of specialist teams and innovative approaches. The reality is that there are not many drugs created specifically for premature babies, so that different drugs both pediatric and adult suit.

Caffeine is just one example. Another drug for adults used to help premature babies is sildenafil, more commonly known as Viagra. One of the major complications that babies can experience is called pulmonary hypertension, which occurs when too difficult for the heart to pump blood through the lungs. Sildenafil works by relaxing the lungs to the heart does not have to work so hard.

They are also used in premature adult medications to control blood pressure and even heart failure, adjusting the dose for premature. These therapies may seem unconventional, but has been proven to work.

It is important to have these drugs available because there are more than 500,000 babies are born prematurely each year in Europe, of which more than 29,000 they do in Spain, and the numbers continue to rise. Since 1996, the number of premature births has increased by over 36%.