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    Postmature Babies Have Problems, Too

    NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Premature babies can have a host of health
problems, but lingering
    too long in the womb can be hazardous to an infant's health as well,
a new study suggests.

    Babies born after 41 weeks of gestation -- more than 10 months --
can have Clifford's
    postmaturity syndrome, a cluster of symptoms that include a
"wizened" appearance, and
    loose, cracked and dry skin. The syndrome results because the
placenta can no longer
    support the fetus, which then begins to live off body fat.

    Now, new research suggests that such infants -- who can have
long-term difficulties such as
    shorter attention span and restlessness -- may have changes in the
brain similar to those found
    in infants of drug-addicted mothers.

    In the study of 31 newborns, postmature infants were more likely
than normal-term infants to
    tremble when given drops of a sugar solution. Overall, the infants
that spent more time in the
    womb had three times the amount of tremors in their arms, legs or
hands, according to lead
    study author Barbara Smith, a research scientist at The Johns
Hopkins University in
    Baltimore.

    The study is scheduled to be published in the January issue of the
Journal of Physiology and
    Behavior.

    Previous studies have found that postmature infants do not calm as
much as other babies
    after being given a 14% sugar solution. In most crying infants,
sugar acts almost like a
    sedative, keeping the baby calm even after they are no longer given
the sweet solution.

    Smith and colleagues speculate that in infants, sugar stimulates the
same area of the brain as
    heroin. Postmature infants and babies born to drug-addicted mothers
may exhibit the same
    symptoms because opioids are already activating that portion of the
brain. But, while
    drug-addicted infants have narcotics in their blood from the
mother's usage, postmature
    infants may produce more naturally occurring opiates, such as
endorphins.

    Such infants may produce more endorphins to combat the stress of the
extended gestation,
    according to Smith's theory.

    However, not all infants born after 41 weeks develop Clifford's
syndrome, according to the
    Maryland researcher. "It's difficult to tell whether the fetus is
suffering from postmaturity
    until it's born," she said.

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