12% of all our babies will be born prematurely!
Everyone has always known someone who had a preemie (a baby born prior to 37 weeks in the womb) but at this rate, we all know a lot of someones! The Center for Disease Control studied 7 million babies over a decade, in an effort to understand why so many babies are born prematurely and any adverse affects they may experience.
Let's not forget that in most cases a preemie baby is not anyone's fault and in most instances there is nothing that could be done!
But according to Heath News, the CDC study "found that 8 percent of all babies born prematurely had birth defects in comparison to only 3 percent of full term babies. Babies born from 24 weeks to 31 weeks of gestation experience five times greater odds of having birth defects. The most common problems in the research group were spina bifida and defects such as a hole in the baby's heart. Though most birth defects can't be given a root cause, some of the most common have been linked to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as, smoking during pregnancy and obesity before pregnancy." http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/pregnancy-childbirth-parenting/p...
While women who smoke or are facing obesity before pregnancy should stop smoking and eat healthfully before becoming pregnant, for those women who face the possibility of premature birth due to genetic or environmental factors, pregnancy can be a scary time.
Multiples are also often premature.
And sometimes a baby can simply be premature for no discernible reason at all.
Most preemies go on to enjoy the same healthy childhoods as every other baby. But "babies born prematurely have twice the amount of major birth defects that their full-term counterparts have." http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/pregnancy-childbirth-parenting/p...
There is still no clear answer as to why so many of our babies are coming so early, so more funding (thankfully!) has been authorized by the federal government to find more answers to these questions.
Tell Us:
Were you premature or had a preemie baby? How was your experience and how are you or your baby doing now? From your experience, can you shed any light on premature births or are you still as puzzled as the researchers?