The Extremely Low Birth Weight Infant

Major changes in obstetric and neonatal care in the 1990s have led to decrease in mortality and morbidity for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. However these changes have reached a plateau and that is a cause for concern. There has to be a constant introspection by the health care givers so as to ensure state-of-the-art, evidence based care for this group of patients, who are dependant on the surrogate decision makers. As Peabody and Martin pointed out: “Gray must be accepted as a respectable color. Issues of morbidity, family values and quality of life are not black and white. There is more than one good desicion and any decision whether to treat or not to treat, can be good as long as it is infant centered, best interests based, thoughtfully made, and abiding by the elements of full informed consent”