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Even 'Full-Term' Babies Born at 37 Weeks Face Health Risks, Study Finds
Filed under: In The News, Delivery, Pregnancy Health
Waiting to deliver as long as possible significantly decreases risks for your newborn. Credit: Getty
But a new study shows waiting to deliver as long as possible significantly decreases risks for your newborn, The New York Times reports.
Typically, when a pregnancy lasts 37 weeks, it's considered full-term, according to the newspaper, but a report from the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the March of Dimes shows a baby born in the 37th or 38th week has a higher risk of dying in his or her first year than a baby born after 39 weeks.
Published last week in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the study looked at more than 46 million babies born between 1995 and 2006 in the United States, The Times reports. In 2006, children born at 37 weeks had double the death rate in the first year of life (3.9 deaths per 1,000 births) than babies born at 40 weeks (1.9 deaths per 1,000 births).
Additionally, researchers report the number of babies born during that time period before 39 weeks rose from about one in three births to more than one in five births, according to the newspaper.
"Women need to know that all 'term' pregnancies are not alike," Dr. Uma M. Reddy, lead author of the study, tells The Times. "If the pregnancy is uncomplicated, babies should not be delivered before 39 weeks."
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
5-31-2011 @ 2:19PM
KatMcG said...I was born in 1982, three months premature. I spent the first 6 months of my life in a NICU, and underwent extensive surgeries to correct hydrocephalus and vision problems. I was never supposed to walk, speak or hear, but here I am, fully functional and very happy. My husband and I are expecting our first child, and while I understand that there are risks involved if I should not carry my child to term, I'm willing to take that risk.
There are risks we have to take every day. Sometimes all we can do is pray for guidance and trust that everything will be okay. What mother can say to her child "No, you're too early, you stay in there another week?" Mine certainly couldn't! Yet, through all the nay-saying, bad news and mortality predictions, here I am... Neo-natal care has most definitely improved since 1982, and will continue to do so... so why is this news? To scare expectant mothers?
Reply
5-31-2011 @ 2:46PM
Amanda said..."If the pregnancy is uncomplicated, babies should not be delivered before 39 weeks."
Yeah. Right. Tell that to my body, which went into labor two weeks "early" with both my kids! I used to get a lot of flak from people because I never counted my pregnancies by weeks and stuck to months, and I would never give the exact due date because I firmly believe that those are strictly arbitrary anyway. Barring complications, babies come when they're good and ready, and obsessing about a specific day on the calendar just makes for anal doctors and neurotic parents-to-be (as if all the dos and don'ts we hear during pregnancy don't do that to us already!). Sheesh.
Reply
6-09-2011 @ 3:15PM
joan said..."Additionally, researchers report the number of babies born during that time period before 39 weeks rose from about one in three births to more than one in five births, according to the newspaper."
That makes no sense!
Reply
6-09-2011 @ 3:21PM
pat said...ROSE! hahah