November is Prematurity Awareness Month

October 4, 10:35 PMHealth ExaminerAngela Spears

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Health Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Preterm birth is a costly health problem

November is prematurity awareness month, a national effort to raise awareness and funding toward the leading cause of death for newborns. The March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign is a multi-million-dollar research, awareness and education campaign to help families have healthier babies. One of the goals is to reduce the rate of prematurity from 12.1 percent in 2002 to 7.6% in 2010, in accordance with the U.S. Public Health Service Healthy People 2010 objective.

Prematurity has increased at an alarming rate over the past two decades. Premature births (defined as birth before 37 completed week’s gestation) are costly and is the leading cause of death in the first month of life. More than half a million babies – one out of every eight – are born too soon each year in the United States, a 20 percent increase since 1990. And, unfortunately, new statistics released by the National Center for Health Statistics show only a slight decline in the nation’s overall infant mortality rate or in the proportion of infants who died as a result of an early birth.

In 2006, the campaign achieved a major milestone: Congress passed, and the President signed, the PREEMIE Act, which authorizes increased federal support for research and education on prematurity. Work continues on appropriation of funding to implement the act's provisions.

The March of Dimes Scientific Advisory Committee on Prematurity has identified six priority areas for a national research agenda on prematurity:

1. New epidemiological studies focused on the risk of extremely preterm births to identify the factors that predispose women to very early labor and delivery
2. Genes and their interaction with the environment that, together, lead to preterm birth
3. Racial and ethnic differences. While prematurity affects all socioeconomic groups, there are significant racial and ethnic disparities. For example, in 2002, non-Hispanic African Americans had the highest rate of premature births at 17.7 percent, well above the national rate of 12.1 percent
4. The roles of infection and immune response to those infections
5. The effects of stress on the mother and fetus
6. Clinical trials to assess the impact of potential treatments, to identify the women who could most benefit, and to determine the best time to provide treatment during pregnancy

Babies who survive an early birth face serious lifelong health problems, including learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing loss and other chronic conditions, including asthma. Even infants born just a few weeks too soon – known as late preterm birth – have a greater risk for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), feeding difficulties, temperature instability (hypothermia), jaundice, delayed brain development and death.

Take Action now and sign the Petition for Preemies -- a campaign to urge federal and state policy makers to move our nation forward to do more to help moms have healthy, full-term babies.

Helpful hints for a healthy pregnancy

• Get regular prenatal care
• Take prenatal vitamins every day
• Avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs
• Avoid uncooked meats, fish containing mercury and unpasteurized dairy products
• Eat balanced, nutritious meals daily
• Manage stress in your life
• Exercise moderately
• Maintain healthy teeth and gums
• Know the warning signs of preterm labor