Good health habits can help you avoid having a low birth weight baby, but nothing can ensure a perfect birth. A low birth weight baby may be born too soon, or for some reason the baby may not gain enough weight before he or she is born, says Dr. Herman Hein, professor of pediatrics at the University of Iowa College of Medicine and staff physician at UI Hospitals and Clinics. "Premature babies are the most common low birth weight babies."

"A baby's low birth weight can result from an infection the mother has or poor blood flow to the uterus. Smoking, drinking, using drugs, and poor nutritional habits also can contribute to low birth weight," Hein says.

"Women who use cocaine are taking a big risk because cocaine can cause the placenta to separate from the wall of the uterus," Hein says. The placenta is an organ that attaches to the uterus. The umbilical cord provides a link between the placenta and the baby. Nourishment and waste products are transported through the cord between mother and baby.

Babies born prematurely must have help breathing, Hein says. "We can provide ventilation--rapid, tiny puffs of air that provide oxygen." The high frequency ventilator, called an oscillator, allows carbon dioxide--a waste product that passes out of the lungs when you exhale--to move out of the baby's lungs.

"The pediatrician may also use a medication, called Surfactant, to replace the substance in the lungs that the baby cannot produce because the lungs are immature. Surfactant keeps the tiny air sacs in the lungs open," Hein says.

Low birth weight babies need fluids, minerals, and a constant temperature, Hein adds. "The baby will be placed in a special incubator in an intensive care unit and monitored around the clock. Her heart and breathing rates, blood pressure, temperature, and nutritional needs will be charted by a health care team.

"The survival rate of low birth weight babies has greatly improved. In the mid 1960s, a baby born weighing less than two pounds had a less than 5 percent chance of surviving. Today, a baby of the same low birth weight has nearly a 100 percent chance of living, if there are no other complications. However, low birth weight babies often do have complications," Hein says. Smaller babies may have other medical problems, such as vision problems or bleeding in the brain, Hein explains.

"As soon as you suspect you are pregnant, or before you become pregnant, talk to your physician about good health habits to help ensure the successful birth of your baby," Hein says.