 Hello everyone, I am Dr. Ashok Saxena, Head, Department of Neonatology, Manipal Hospital, Dwarka Mutary. A premature baby is someone who arrives too soon in this world. Medically speaking, any baby who is born before 37 weeks of gestation is called preterm. These fragile ones, especially the ones who are born a little too early and little too small are at risk of certain complications because they have poorly developed organs and systems. It is not surprising therefore that some of these babies require special care after birth. Thus, many of these babies mainly need some assistance to initiate their breathing soon after delivery. A few may even need respiratory support for days and weeks together. They tend to get caught very fast, very rapidly and some of them may require special measures to keep them warm and at times may need some specialized equipment such as incubators and gradient warmers. They are very vulnerable to infection because their immune system is rather underdeveloped. Prevention of infection is vital to their survival. Their second swallow coordination, especially of the babies who are born before 34 weeks, is not optimal and may have to be fed through gastric tube. Occasionally a few may even need intravenous nutrition. There is no doubt that the mortality and morbidity in these preterms is somewhat higher when compared to their gestationary term mature counterparts. In fact, I reckon that every one out of seven babies born in our country is preter. And yet, one out of three babies or newborn babies who dies is a preterm newborn. In fact, it's a well-known and established fact that prematurity contributes majorly to the unital mortality in our country. The incidence of long-term developmental delays, hearing and visual impairments and even long-term respiratory morbidities is somewhat higher. This notwithstanding, if we give optimal and quality care to these newborns, the long-term outcome is surprising very good. A vast majority of them attend normal schools and colleges and some of them have even excelled in various walks of life. To ensure a good outcome, a team approach is mandatory. A good antenatal and at-birthcare by the obstetrician is necessary. It is also desirable delivery of high-risk pregnancies take place at the centre with necessary neonatal infrastructure. Wherever it is not possible, transfer to neonatal centre with appropriate transport facilities including personnel and equipment should be possible. Infrastructure required for these preterm consists of delivery suite with appropriate resuscitation and warming equipment. The NICU must be spacious, well-equipped and should have facility for temperature monitoring and infection prevention. The NICU environment must enforce developmental and supportive care. However, above all, a dedicated neonatology team consisting of neonatologists, attending pediatrician, trained nursing staff in appropriate numbers and lactation support system play a pivotal role in eventual good outcome of preterm. Presence of other specialties and supporting services such as pediatric surgery, pediatric cardiology, bedside radiology, pediatric ophthalmology, laboratory and blood bank department goes a long way in care of preterm. While the care of tiny sick preterm is resource, skill and labour intensive, nothing is more satisfying and delightful than to see them blossom into healthy and normally performing older children and adults.