Surgeon General's Conference Aims To Develop National Strategy To Prevent Premature Births

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 18 Jun 2008 - 5:00 PST

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In an effort to reduce the increasing number of premature infant births during the past 20 years, acting U.S. Surgeon General Steven Galson on Monday opened a two-day conference that aims to develop a national strategy to prevent premature births, the AP/Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. Galson said that researchers need to "redouble" efforts to understand why one in eight infants, or more than 500,000 infants annually, in the country are born premature.

According to the AP/Commercial Appeal, there are "troubling signs" that an increase in the number of near-term premature infants -- those born between 34 and 37 weeks' gestation -- are the result of medically unnecessary caesarean sections. A recent study from CDC and the March of Dimes found that near-term infants make up 70% of all premature births and are the main source of the 20-year increase in premature deliveries. Although the study could not determine the number of c-sections that were medically necessary, researchers who studied singleton births over nine years found that c-sections primarily accounted for the rise in near-term births.

Although there are "clear guidelines" that c-sections should not be scheduled before full term unless there is a medical need, some physicians concerned about litigation comply with requests to schedule c-sections before due dates, the AP/Commercial Appeal reports. The Surgeon General's Conference on the Prevention of Preterm Birth plans to address the Institute of Medicine's 2006 recommendations that more pregnant women receive a first-trimester ultrasound so that a fetus's gestational period is not in question.

March of Dimes President Jennifer Howse said that "[m]ost women are not really aware of how two to three weeks can make a big difference in the full development of the baby." According to the March of Dimes, some infants born premature will not experience long-term health conditions, but others have learning and behavioral delay, breathing and feeding problems, and increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Catherine Spong, pregnancy chief at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said the conference will aim to determine "where we're going to get our biggest bang for the buck" (Neergaard, AP/Memphis Commercial Appeal, 6/17).

CBS' "Evening News" on Monday reported on the conference. The segment includes comments from CBS health correspondent Emily Senay; March of Dimes Medical Director Alan Fleischman; Alfred Khoury, director of maternal-fetal medicine at Inova Fairfax Hospital; Robin Baker, a neonatologist at Inova; and parents (Smith, "Evening News," CBS, 6/16).

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