Prematurity : day and facts on premature births and preterm births
 |
| Books on premature births, preterm babies |
In 2015, for the first time, the complications of preterm birth outranked all other causes as the world’s number one killer of young children. Of the estimated 6.3 million deaths of children under the age of 5 in 2013, complications from preterm births accounted for nearly 1.1 million deaths. These new findings, published in the Lancet and then publicized worldwide on World Prematurity Day on November 17.
Premature birth is considered a very serious health problem.
-Worldwide, 15 million babies are born preterm and more than a million die as a result. Babies who survive often have lifelong health problems such as cerebral palsy, vision and hearing loss, and intellectual disabilities.
http://www.who.int/life-course/news/events/world-prematurity-day-2016/en/
Preterm birth fact sheet ( extracted from WHO)
Key facts
- an estimated 15 million babies are born preterm (before 37 completed weeks of gestation), and this number is rising.
-Preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under 5 years of age, responsible for nearly 1 million deaths in 2015.
-Three-quarters of them could be saved with current, cost-effective interventions.
-Across 184 countries, the rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born.
Preterm defined
- as babies born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy are completed.
- sub-categories of preterm birth, based on gestational age include
extremely preterm (<28 weeks)very preterm (28 to <32 weeks)moderate to late preterm (32 to <37 weeks).
The extent of the premature birth problem
- more than 1 in 10 babies are preterm
- Almost 1 million children die each year due to complications of preterm birth. Many survivors face a lifetime of disability, including learning disabilities and visual and hearing problems.
Globally, prematurity is the leading cause of death in children under the age of 5.
Inequalities in survival rates around the world are very obvious with low-income settings, half of the babies born at or below 32 weeks (2 months early) die due to a lack of feasible, cost-effective care, such as warmth, breastfeeding support, and basic care for infections and breathing difficulties. In high-income countries, almost all of these babies survive.
Managing Preterm Births
- Three-quarters of premature babies can be saved with feasible, cost-effective care
- adequate and essential care during child birth and in the postnatal period for every mother and baby, -provision of antenatal steroid injections (given to pregnant women at risk of preterm labour and under set criteria to strengthen the babies’ lungs),
-kangaroo mother care (the baby is carried by the mother with skin-to-skin contact and frequent breastfeeding
- antibiotics to treat newborn infections.
-continuity of midwifery-led care in settings where there are effective midwifery services has been shown to reduce prematurity by around 24%.
Preventing deaths and complications from preterm birth starts with a healthy pregnancy. Quality care before, between and during pregnancies will ensure all women have a positive pregnancy experience.
WHO’s antenatal care guidelines include key interventions to help prevent preterm birth, such as counselling on healthy diet and optimal nutrition, and tobacco and substance use; fetal measurements including use of ultrasound to help determine gestational age and detect multiple pregnancies; and a minimum of 8 contacts with health professionals throughout pregnancy to identify and manage other risk factors, such as infections. Better access to contraceptives and increased empowerment could also help reduce preterm births.
Causes of preterm birth
Most preterm births happen spontaneously, but some are due to early induction of labour or caesarean birth, whether for medical or non-medical reasons.
Common causes of preterm birth include multiple pregnancies, infections and chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure; however, often no cause is identified. There could also be a genetic influence. Better understanding of the causes and mechanisms will advance the development of solutions to prevent preterm birth.
Africa is were most Preterm births occur!
-More than 60% of preterm births occur in Africa and South Asia,
- In the lower-income countries, on average, 12% of babies are born too early compared with 9% in higher-income countries.
-Within countries, poorer families are at higher risk.
The 10 countries with the greatest number of preterm births1:
India: 3 519 100
China: 1 172 300
Nigeria: 773 600
Pakistan: 748 100
Indonesia: 675 700
The United States of America: 517 400
Bangladesh: 424 100
The Philippines: 348 900
The Democratic Republic of the Congo: 341 400
Brazil: 279 300
The 10 countries with the highest rates of preterm birth per 100 live births:
Malawi: 18.1 per 100
Comoros: 16.7
Congo: 16.7
Zimbabwe: 16.6
Equatorial Guinea: 16.5
Mozambique: 16.4
Gabon: 16.3
Pakistan: 15.8
Indonesia: 15.5
Mauritania: 15.4
Of 65 countries with reliable trend data, all but 3 show an increase in preterm birth rates over the past 20 years.
Possible reasons for this include better measurement, increases in maternal age and underlying maternal health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure, greater use of infertility treatments leading to increased rates of multiple pregnancies, and changes in obstetric practices such as more caesarean births before term.
There is a dramatic difference in survival of premature babies depending on where they are born. For example, more than 90% of extremely preterm babies (<28 weeks) born in low-income countries die within the first few days of life; yet less than 10% of babies of this gestation die in high-income settings.
Guidelines to improve preterm birth outcomes
WHO has developed new guidelines with recommendations for improving outcomes of preterm births.
The guidelines include interventions provided to the mother –
for example steroid injections before birth, antibiotics when her water breaks before the onset of labour,
and magnesium sulfate to prevent future neurological impairment of the child.
-as interventions for the newborn baby – for example thermal care (e.g. kangaroo mother care when babies are stable) , safe oxygen use, and other treatments to help babies breathe more easily.
References
WHO recommendations on interventions to improve preterm birth outcomeshttp://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs363/en/
Skip to main content
http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/documents/born_too_soon/en/
other related articles
Comments
Post a Comment