Number Of Premature Births In U.S. 'Discouraging,' Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 29 Mar 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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The rate of premature births in the U.S. is a "discouraging number," especially in light of a recent study that found "unanticipated consequences" of being born prematurely, Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Mike King writes in an opinion piece (King, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/27).

The study, published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that people who are born prematurely are less likely to have infants of their own later in life and more likely to die during childhood. Despite recent efforts to bring more pregnancies to full term -- defined as 38 weeks' gestation or longer -- one in eight infants in the U.S. is born prematurely (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/27).

Although advances in neonatal technology have "significantly" reduced the infant mortality rate in the U.S. from 1990 to 2005, the rate of premature births increased roughly 20% during the same time -- "a trend line that has had profound long-term consequences in public health policy and costs," King writes. "The good news is that more [premature infants] survive than ever," King writes, concluding, "The more discouraging news is that we aren't even close to solving the real problem" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3/27).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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