Newborn babies require a lot of care, and many times even the parents can be unaware of certain conditions that may be causing them issues even at birth. One such condition which is much more prominent in premature babies with low birth weight is Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP).According to American Academy of Ophthalmology, when a baby is born this can lead to a problem called ROP. In ROP, the tiny blood vessels in the back of the eye, called the retina, start to grow in a strange way. These blood vessels are supposed to help the eye see, but when they grow wrong, they can cause big problems. Sometimes, they leak or bleed, which can lead to scarring inside the eye. If this gets really bad, the baby could lose his/her eyesight. How ROP Affects the EyesNormally, the back of the eye, the retina, is like a screen that sends pictures to the brain. But for babies with ROP, the blood vessels that feed the retina don't grow right. They might leak or bleed, and this causes scars to form. These scars can shrink and pull on the retina, like pulling a sticker off a wall. This is called a retinal detachment. If the retina comes away from the back of the eye, the baby can't see properly. In really bad cases, this can lead to blindness. Doctors try to stop this from happening by treating the blood vessels before they cause too much damage.A baby's eyes are still growing inside the mother's womb. The blood vessels in the retina start growing early and finish after the baby is born. If a baby is born too soon, these blood vessels might not have finished growing, and they can grow in a bad way. Babies born before 31 weeks, or those who are very small at birth (less than 1500 grams), have the highest risk of ROP. ROP doesn't have any signs that you can see at first. The only way to know if a baby has it is for a special eye doctor, called an ophthalmologist, to look inside their eyes.What Are The Treatment Options For ROP?There are times when the ROP is mild and gets better on its own. But if it's severe, doctors need to do surgery to stop the bad blood vessels from growing and save the baby's eyesight. The surgery focuses on the sides of the retina, so the baby can still see straight ahead. There are a few kinds of surgery. Laser surgery uses small beams of light to stop the blood vessels. Injections put medicine inside the eye to help them grow normally. For very bad cases, doctors might use a band around the eye or replace the gel inside the eye.The main goal of ROP surgery is to stop the problem from getting worse and prevent blindness. Doctors are usually successful, but some babies might still have some vision loss. Even if the ROP stops, kids who had it need to get their eyes checked every year, even when they're grown up. This is because they might have other eye problems later in life. It's important to keep going to the eye doctor to make sure their eyes stay healthy.