I read an interesting report today on premature babies and their care. Did you know that c. 15 million premature babies are born each year?
The sad news is that 1.1 million of these newborns die during or soon after birth and many of those who survive have serious disabilities. Although the majority of the world's premies are born in the Third World, half a million premies are born in the United States, more than eight times the rate than in the rest of the developed world. Why? I didn't know but nearly half of U.S. pregnancies are unplanned. Also uninsured American women may join prenatal care late or not at all, and women whose pregnancies are not monitored have statistically higher rates of preterm birth. Other issues increasing the risk of premature births worldwide are elective inductions and C-sections, a multiple pregnancy, pregnancy at a young or late age, being overweight or underweight, spacing pregnancies less than 2 years apart, smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, and infections. One aspect I've noticed is that many Western women are very keen to give birth 'on time,' i.e. preferably on the expected date of delivery or, even better, before. If the due date is approaching and nothing seems to be happening, women resort, and are encouraged by other mothers young and old, to proactively try to induce labor themselves (e.g. walking, cleaning, sitting in the sauna, having sex, and even drinking castor oil). Or just sign up for an elective C-section beforehand (in Finland easier said than done, though)! I totally agree with March of Dimes epidemiologist Christopher Howson that 'a healthy baby is worth the wait'!!
Regarding premies the good news is that there are simple ways to save babies that are born too soon, i.e. before the 38th week of pregnancy (WHO definition). Whereas in the West extreme premies that are born before 28 weeks have an approximate 50/50 chance of survival, in the developing world "being born too soon is an unrecognized killer" (Joy Lawn, Save the Children). This research discovered that an African baby is more than 12 times more likely to die from prematurity than a European baby. What I did not know is that besides being the leading cause of death for newborns worldwide, prematurity is also the second-leading cause of death in children under 5. In his introductory statement, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for action as 3/4 of premie deaths could be prevented by simple measures. Among these guidelines:
- providing USD1 steroid shots during preterm labor to hasten the development of immature fetal lungs (almost 400 000 babies a year could be saved this way!)
- teaching 'kangaroo care' through which babies are provided skin-to-skin contact with their mothers (even babies weighing a mere 900 g have been reported to thrive from this method alone!)
- providing antibiotics and antiseptic cream to fight infections, e.g. of the umbilical cord
The sad news is that 1.1 million of these newborns die during or soon after birth and many of those who survive have serious disabilities. Although the majority of the world's premies are born in the Third World, half a million premies are born in the United States, more than eight times the rate than in the rest of the developed world. Why? I didn't know but nearly half of U.S. pregnancies are unplanned. Also uninsured American women may join prenatal care late or not at all, and women whose pregnancies are not monitored have statistically higher rates of preterm birth. Other issues increasing the risk of premature births worldwide are elective inductions and C-sections, a multiple pregnancy, pregnancy at a young or late age, being overweight or underweight, spacing pregnancies less than 2 years apart, smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, and infections. One aspect I've noticed is that many Western women are very keen to give birth 'on time,' i.e. preferably on the expected date of delivery or, even better, before. If the due date is approaching and nothing seems to be happening, women resort, and are encouraged by other mothers young and old, to proactively try to induce labor themselves (e.g. walking, cleaning, sitting in the sauna, having sex, and even drinking castor oil). Or just sign up for an elective C-section beforehand (in Finland easier said than done, though)! I totally agree with March of Dimes epidemiologist Christopher Howson that 'a healthy baby is worth the wait'!!
Regarding premies the good news is that there are simple ways to save babies that are born too soon, i.e. before the 38th week of pregnancy (WHO definition). Whereas in the West extreme premies that are born before 28 weeks have an approximate 50/50 chance of survival, in the developing world "being born too soon is an unrecognized killer" (Joy Lawn, Save the Children). This research discovered that an African baby is more than 12 times more likely to die from prematurity than a European baby. What I did not know is that besides being the leading cause of death for newborns worldwide, prematurity is also the second-leading cause of death in children under 5. In his introductory statement, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for action as 3/4 of premie deaths could be prevented by simple measures. Among these guidelines:
- providing USD1 steroid shots during preterm labor to hasten the development of immature fetal lungs (almost 400 000 babies a year could be saved this way!)
- teaching 'kangaroo care' through which babies are provided skin-to-skin contact with their mothers (even babies weighing a mere 900 g have been reported to thrive from this method alone!)
- providing antibiotics and antiseptic cream to fight infections, e.g. of the umbilical cord
No comments:
Post a Comment