Longer Hospital Stays Linked to Eye Problems in Preemies

A Stanford University Study recently found that preemies who remain in the hospital more than 28 days are about twice as likely as preemies with a 14 day hospital stay to develop Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), the leading cause of blindness in American children.

However, it isn't really the hospital stay that's suspect, researchers say. It's the fact that infants who have longer hospital stays are usually those with the lowest birth weights or the earliest gestational ages. For example, premature babies born weighing just 750 to 999 grams are 30.93% more likely to develop ROP.

SOURCE: "Smaller Newborns With Longer Hospital Stays Have Higher Rates of Retinopathy," MedScape Today, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/709362

Most Preemies Born in Africa, Canada, and U.S. Report Claims

As The March of Dimes heats up their campaign for Prematurity Awareness Month (November), they've released a report estimating that 13 million babies around the world are born premature. More than a million of those infants, they say, die within a month. Put another way, not quite 10% of all births are premature, and prematurity accounts for 28% of all newborn deaths worldwide.

85% of the world's premature births occur in Africa. Canada and the U.S. are next in line with a total of 10.6%, then Asia (9.1%), Latin America and the Caribbean (8.1%), Australia and New Zealand (6.4%), and Europe (6.2%).

Although the report notes that rates of preterm birth have increased 36% in 25 years in the U.S., they say there are several reasons for this. More women over the age of 35 are becoming pregnant, which increases the risk of preterm birth. Americans are also using more "assisted reproductive tehcnologies," which leads to more multiple births, which in turn lead to more extremely premature births and more infant deaths.

There is no mention in the report that some regions, countries, and hospitals are more liklely to treat extremely premature infants, whereas others treat them as stillbirths or miscarriages.

SOURCE: "1 Million 'Preemie' Babies Die Each Year: Report," U.S. News & World Report, http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/10/04/1-million-preemie-babies-die-each-year-report.html

$25 Incubators

Stanford’s Institute of Design uses their student power to help create products other designers might ignore or find too difficult. In a class called "Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability,” students ponder how to improve lives in underdeveloped areas of the world. One of their projects is a low-cost incubator for preemies. The school took a team to Napal to see what life is like there, and to learn that most preemies are born outside of cities and far from hospitals and hospital incubators.

Students knew the incubators had to work without the aid of electricity, be easy to sanitize and transport, and inexpensive. In the end, the students came up with a prototype called a "thermoregulator." It looks much like a sleeping bag that can keep an infant warm for four hours. It has special pouch that is rechargable by boiling it in water. And it costs a mere $25, compared to hospital incubators that cost about $20,000.

Students also created a company called Embrace that hopes to sell the $25 incubator. You can donate to the cause at Embrace's website and learn more about this innovation on YouTube.

SOURCE: "Where $25 Premature-Baby Incubators Are Conceptualized," Wall Street Journal, http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2009/08/28/where-25-premature-baby-incubators-are-conceptualized/?mod=rss_WSJBlog

Mayo Clinic Says Abortions Might Lead to Future Preemies

Studies show that women who've had abortions may have trouble carrying another child to term. Studies also show abortions have no affect on a woman's ability to carry another child to term. Despite the varying results of ,scientific studies, most experts say women who've had abortions needn't worry about having trouble concieving again, or carrying their baby to full term.

But recently, the Mayo Clinic published an article that reads:

"During a surgical abortion, the fetus is removed from the uterus — often with a vacuum device, a syringe or a spoon-shaped instrument with a sharp edge (curette)...Rarely, a surgical abortion may weaken the cervix or cause scarring on the inside of the uterus. If such damage occurs, surgery may be needed to correct the problems before a woman can conceive again or carry a subsequent pregnancy to term."

A weak cervix can result in premature birth.

In 2007, Canadian researchers Brent Rooney, Byron Calhoun, Elizabeth Shadigian estimated there were 1,096 newborns under 32 weeks' gestation whose cerebral palsy was caused by their mother's prior induced abortions. And more recently, Dr. Robbert van Oppenraaij found one induced abortion raised a woman's risk of delivering a preemie by 20%.

SOURCES: "Could an abortion increase the risk of problems in a subsequent pregnancy?," MayoClinic.com, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/abortion/AN00633 , "Cost consequences of induced abortion as an attributable risk for preterm birth and impact on informed consent." J Reprod Med, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17977168?dopt=AbstractPlus, AND "The influence of previous pregnancy terminations, miscarriages and still-births on the incidence of babies with low birth weight and premature births as well as a somatic classification of newborns," Neonatologie und Pädiatrische Intensivmedizin am Zentrum für Kinder..., http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18293256

Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder for Moms of Preemies?

UPDATE 9/9/09: Evidence continues to mount for the fact that parents of preemies develop post-traumatic-stress disorder. For another helpful article, read "For Parents on NICU, Trauma May Last," New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/health/25trau.html

When most people think of post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD), they imagine combat veterans or violent crime victims suffering with the mental disease. But experts now admit mothers who experience traumatic birth experiences may also suffer from PTSD. Mothers of preemies, who may go through complicated births, the threat of a dying infant, and long and stressful NICU stays may be particularly susceptible.

Symptoms of PTSD may include nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, and "a numbness to daily life." However, PTSD is much less common than postpartum depression, which affects about 15% of new mothers. No comprehensive studies have looked at the incident rate of PTSD, but a survey of 900 American mothers showed 9% screened positive for PTSD. 18% had some--but not all the official signs of--PTSD.

Of course, not every mother who goes through a traumatic birth experience develops PTSD.

"Monica Bristow, a clinical psychologist in Redmond, Wash., who counsels mothers with PTSD, says one key to treatment is sharing the story of the trauma...Nondrug techniques, like relaxation or gradual re-exposure to the trauma through memory in a constructive setting, can be more long-lasting and effective."

To help mothers know whether they might have PTSD or postpartum depression, see the chart at the bottom of this Wall Street Journal article.

SOURCE: "Birth Trauma: Stress Disorder Afflicts Moms," Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121789883018612223.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Preemies at Risk for Osteoporosis

Former low birth weight preemies have a lower bone density when they grow up, a recent Finnish study claims. This makes them higher risk for osteoporosis.

Researchers looked at 144 adults between the ages of 18 and 27 who were born early and small.

There is no cure for osteoporosis, but parents or preemies can try to prevent its development by making sure their child gets the recommended daily dose of vitamin D and calcium, get plenty of exercise, and don't take up smoking or drinking.

SOURCE: "Preemie Birth Could Mean Weaker Bones as Adults," U.S. News & World Report, http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/08/25/preemie-birth-could-mean-weaker-bones-as-adults.html

Did Government Medicine Kill a Preemie?

As Americans struggle with the pros and cons of socialized health care, one mom from the United Kingdom points to a major problem with government-run medicine. Doctors, she claims, said her baby, born at 21 weeks and 5 days gestation, doctors told her hewas too early to treat.

Government guidelines, mother Sarah Capewell says she was told, say no baby born before 22 weeks gestation should receive medical treatment. This means her child was born just two days "too early."

Although Sarah Capewell begged doctors to to treat her preemie, they wouldn't even see him. According to Capewell, she and her midwife witnessed her child moving and breathing without assistance. He lived two hours without any medical intervention, then died.

However, actual guidelines state babies born before 23 weeks in Health Service hospitals should be allowed to die without intervention. And the guidelines are just that - guidelines, not laws. A spokesperson for the hospital said: "Like other acute hospitals, we follow national guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine regarding premature births."

In addition, Capewell was denied injections to stop her contractions and steriod injections that might help her baby's lungs. Once again, doctors were apparently following government guidelines. Capewell says she told a doctor, "You have to get help" and he replied: "No, we don't."

SOURCE: "Doctors told me it was against the rules to save my premature baby," MailOnline.com, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211950/Premature-baby-left-die-doctors-mother-gives-birth-just-days-22-week-care-limit.html#ixzz0Qd6W4nL0