Fetal viability
ability of a fetus to survive outside the uterus
Fetal viability is a medical and a legal term. It describes the ability of an unborn child to survive outside the womb. For the first three months of pregnancy, the unborn child is called embryo, after that it is called fetus. Usually, children are born after 40 weeks of pregnancy. Very few children are born before the mother reaches 24 weeks of pregnancy. If they are born alive, very few will survive. About 50 to 70 percent of children born from the 25th week of pregnancy will survive. In the 24th week, the survival chance is 30 to 50 percent. The point at which the child has a 50 percent chance of surviving is called limit of viability.
