Myths & Facts about Preterm birth
While premature births (also known as preterm birth) are common in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for more than 60% of all preterm birth cases, preterm births are universal. Although a full-term pregnancy lasts roughly 40 weeks from the first day of a woman's last menstrual cycle, delivery between 38 and 42 weeks is still considered full term. A baby delivered at 37 weeks or less is considered premature, and the delivery is considered preterm.[1]?
There are a variety of factors that can cause a baby to be born prematurely. Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (pPROM) accounts for 30% of preterm births, whereas medical factors such as preeclampsia, placental abruption, Intra-Uterine Growth Restriction, twins/multiple pregnancies, or elective preterm deliveries account for 15-20%. Prior medical issues, age (<25 or >35years), poor nutrition during pregnancy, genetics, stress, environmental variables, infertility therapies, and poor prenatal care among others are all associated with preterm birth.[2]?
Following preterm delivery, parents of premature babies experience a tremendous deal of guilt, and fear and spend a lot of time feeling like they failed to safeguard their babies.
Preterm birth can be shocking and frightening for parents, but this article should dispel some prevalent preterm birth beliefs. Even when expectant mothers "do everything properly," premature birth can still occur.
Source:www.cdn.nexusnewsfeed.com
But how do you tell the difference between fact and myth? We take a look at and debunk some of the myths related to preterm birth.
Myth 1: Mothers of premature babies could’ve avoided premature birth.?
In fact, up to 50 percent of preterm births have unknown causes according to the?World Health Organization. Not much is known about the origins and mechanisms of preterm birth, and without this knowledge, preterm birth would persist. Although some treatments, such as family planning, are known to prevent preterm birth before pregnancy, especially for females in areas with a high incidence of adolescent pregnancy, physicians, policymakers, and program managers have few additional effective prevention methods. Most measures to prevent preterm delivery once a woman becomes pregnant simply delay the onset, turning an early preterm birth into a late preterm birth. To address the problem and reach a stage where preterm delivery can be avoided, much more understanding is required.
Myth 2: If I have a pre-term delivery, it means my subsequent deliveries will also be preterm.
Women who give birth to their first child prematurely are up to three times more likely to deliver their next baby prematurely. This risk increases with each preterm birth. But some women deliver preterm without any clear risk factors. However, this does not mean that it is guaranteed that future deliveries will be preterm. It is important for pregnant women to disclose a medical history of preterm birth to the doctors for close monitoring, appropriate antenatal care, and treatments that could help reduce the risk of preterm birth during a subsequent pregnancy.
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Myth 3: By the age of two, the child will be all caught up.
It depends on how early they're born. Premature babies usually catch up to their classmates around the age of two to three years. Many factors, such as premature delivery before week 28, exceptionally low birth weight, and, in certain circumstances, birth abnormalities or illnesses, have a role in when and how your premature baby catches up in height and weight. For example, a baby born at 26weeks may survive, but its chance of having severe neural development disability is quite high. The same may happen to a baby born at week 30 with less severe complications. Interventions such as Kangaroo Care (skin-to-skin contact), breastfeeding, and timely treatment of infections play a big role in the positive growth and development of premature babies.
Myth 4: You won’t be able to bond with your baby since Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) babies have tubes and cannulas covering their tiny bodies.
Even if you can't take your baby home right away, there are several ways to bond with your newborn while they're in the NICU. Talk with your primary NICU Nurse about some of these opportunities to bond with your baby.
It is important to note that while half of the preterm births are unexpected and of unknown cause, there are risk factors to keep in mind. Back-to-back pregnancies, twin pregnancies, past preterm birth, short cervix (measured during a transvaginal ultrasound exam), early cervical dilation (measured during a pelvic exam), injury during a past delivery, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, or being underweight or overweight are some signs that you may be at risk for preterm labor.[3]??If you are at risk of preterm birth, talk to your doctor about treatments that can help prevent it.
While not much is known about the origins and mechanisms of preterm birth, 85% of patients hospitalized for threatened preterm birth (PTL) will not give birth within the next 7 days. This indicates a gap in diagnostics at the point of care despite sundry efforts to develop methods for objectively assessing the risk of true vs false preterm labor. Most methods developed so far rely on the skill and experience of the examiner and are not sufficient predictors of imminent delivery in patients with signs of threatened preterm birth.?
Using Innitius’ novel patented diagnostic tool- Fine Birth, obstetricians can now accurately, cost-effectively, and in real-time assess the risk of preterm delivery in the event of a preterm labor threat.
Fine Birth offers significant advantages over current inaccurate methods, such as the accurate distinction between true and false preterm labor and no contraindications to use. Consequently, patient costs are reduced, and practical real-time results lead to faster intervention and low initial implementation costs in the hospital. Physiological changes in the cervix during pregnancy are expected to affect cervical tissue consistency which is very specific and a direct marker of pending birth. Cervical consistency, in combination with other clinical parameters of the woman, is used by an Artificial Intelligence algorithm to provide a real-time assessment of whether the woman is experiencing a true or false preterm labor event to assist obstetricians in providing appropriate care.
1 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/preterm-birth
2 https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/1/08-062554/en/
3 https://www.ksat.com/news/2019/11/07/preterm-birth-myths/