Technology leading to more preemies in the U.S.

A new analysis led by Seattle Children’s Hospital shows
the rate of pre-term babies born in the U.S. is higher
than the world-wide average. It is even worse than many
undeveloped countries.

“The good news for the United States is that it’s leveled
off. The bad news is that it’s one of the worst rates in
the world,” says Dr. Craig Rubens, Executive Director of
the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth
(GAPPS) at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

In their new report “Born Too Soon,” GAPPS found premature
birth in the U.S. is up 81 percent since 1981. Now, 12
out of every 100 babies born in America will be born
before 37 weeks gestation.

Why?

While the developing world is dealing with issues like
infectious disease, poor nutrition, and pre-natal smoking,
GAPPS found technology is partially to blame for the
majority of preemies born in the U.S.

“Advanced reproductive technology has led to a lot of
women having more than one baby at a time, and the more
babies you have in the uterus the sooner they have to come
out. The other unfortunate, adverse consequence of having
C-sections available is that women are seeking C-sections
and getting them too early,” says Rubens.

The doctor says some European countries have much tighter
rules about when a mom can get a cesarean and how
infertility treatments can be carried out. In those
places, their rate of premature births is not going up as
quickly.

Still, early birth is the number two cause of death for
children under five in every country around the world.

“This is a huge problem and it’s on the rise. And, as the
obstetrics care gets better around the world, we’re going
to see more pre-term babies,” says Rubens.

Consequences

Babies born prematurely can have major central nervous
system problems, developmental and learning delays, a
higher risk of infection and respiratory problems. It
even raises the risk of some major diseases, like
diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, in
adulthood.

“It is a big drain on the family, on the social network
around the family […] and it puts a huge burden on the
community to have large numbers of babies born too soon,”
Rubens says.

While work is being done to treat diseases that may result
from being born too soon, Dr. Rubens says we need to focus
more on the root of the problem.

“We’ve got blinders on. We really are thinking too much
about what it takes to keep these babies alive and not
enough about what will keep them from suffering from being
alive,” says Rubens.

Taking action

GAPPS has started the first bio-bank for pregnant women.
It is a repository that just opened this year and already
has information and tissue samples from more than 650
moms-to-be. They are hoping it will help with research
into pre-term birth.

GAPPS is also working with other hospitals around the
world to set up bio-banks of their own.

“We need to get away from just celebrating survival. We
need to celebrate quality of life after you survive,”
Rubens says.

Protecting your future baby

While we wait for research to catch up, there are some
things women can do to give their babies the best chance
at a full term birth. Nutrition and proper health care
are crucial.

Dr. Rubens recommends “birth spacing” – waiting at least a
year after giving birth before getting pregnant again.
This allows the body to fully recover from the previous
pregnancy and prepare for another healthy term.

The “Born Too Soon” report also found strong links between
stress and pre-term births. While they cannot pin down
the exact mechanism, Dr. Rubens says it is important for
expectant moms to keep their stress levels as low as
possible.

Finally, age plays an important role in premature birth.
Women younger than 20 and over the age of 35 are much more
likely to have a baby born too soon.