Your Childrens Health

Mums in the USA are now giving birth earlier on average, a new report found, with the average mum giving birth at 39 weeks.  A baby is considered full term at 40 weeks, meaning that on average US mums are giving birth to premature babies.

The name for these babies - born up to six weeks earlier than full term - are known as “late preterm” babies, and are responsible for the huge increase in numbers of premature births.  While very early babies get the most publicity, because of the high risk of death and disability, late preterm babies are still at risk of complications.

For a start, they may have to spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit, and can suffer from conditions such as hypoglycemia and respiratory problems.  Some medics are now questioning whether enough attention is being brought to the problems early babies can have.  Dr. Amanda Cotter, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine told a journalist:  “Nobody has been focusing on the babies at more than 34 weeks — are we doing the right thing by not bringing them to full-term ?” 

The authors of the study speculated that the rise in late preterm babies could be due in part to the rise in caesarians, where mums choose for themselves when they want their baby to be born. 

So what should expectant mums do?  Follow the conventional advice - eat well and take care of yourself during pregnancy.  If you have the choice, don’t choose to have your baby early, because of the potential complications it can cause.

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 27th, 2006 at 10:11 am and is filed under Pregnancy and Newborns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.