Global Premature Births

Posted on May 11, 2012 by townsend

• U.S. lags in global measure of premature births, By Donald G. McNeil Jr., May 2, 2012, New York Times: “Fifteen million babies are born prematurely each year, and the United States fared badly in the first country-by-country global comparison of premature births, which was released Wednesday by the World Health Organization and other agencies. Although American hospitals excel at saving premature infants, the United States is similar to developing countries in the percentage of mothers who give birth before their children are due, the study’s chief author noted. It does worse than any Western European country and considerably worse than Japan or the Scandinavian countries. That stems from the unique American combination of many pregnant teenagers and many women older than 35 who are giving birth, sometimes to twins or triplets implanted after in vitro fertilization, the authors said. Twins and triplets are often deliberately delivered early by Caesarean section to avoid the unpredictable risks of vaginally delivering multiple full-term babies…”
• U.S. excels at saving preemies but yet ranks poorly globally, By Karen Herzog, May 2, 2012, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Even though hospitals in Milwaukee and elsewhere in the United States excel at saving premature infants, the nation fares as poorly as developing countries in the percentage of mothers who give birth before their child is due, according to the first country-by-country comparison of preterm births. The U.S. has the sixth-highest rate of preterm births among 184 countries and the highest among industrialized nations, says the March of Dimes report, ‘Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth.’ In Milwaukee, nearly 80% of babies who die before their first birthday are born before 37 weeks’ gestation, according to the Milwaukee Health Department. Premature birth is the No. 1 reason babies in Milwaukee die; a total of 100 babies died in the city in 2011, the Journal Sentinel reported as part of its Empty Cradles series on infant mortality…”