Pre-Mature Infants: Information For Delivery And For Women Who Were Born Pre-Mature

Two news studies were released this week regarding pre-mature infants. Both are important to know if you or someone you know is pregnant.

The first study discussed how safe it is for pre-mature infants to be born vaginally. The study concluded that in most cases it is safe for a pre-term baby to be born vaginally. The study found that pre-term infants who were not breeched between 24 and 28 weeks 84% of the vaginal deliveries were successful. However, if the pre-term infant was breech only 27.6% of vaginal deliveries were successful. This study found that there was no difference in morality rates between vaginally deliver and C-sections for pre-term babies born between 24 and 32 weeks. It is important to know that with this study, the successful results were for infants who were not breeched, if a pre-mature baby is breeched; it is significantly safer to have a C-section.

The second study found that women who were born pre-mature are more likely to have complications during their own pregnancies than women who are born at full term. Further, the earlier a woman is born the higher the rate of future complications. This means that a woman born pre-mature at 24 weeks has a higher chance of multiple complications while pregnant than a woman who was born pre-mature at 32 weeks. Specifically, the study found that if the pregnant woman was born premature between 32 or 36 weeks, they were 14% more likely to have complications while pregnant then a pregnant woman born at full term.

Additionally, a pregnant woman born before 32 weeks was twice as likely to suffer one or more complications while pregnant than a pregnant woman born at full term. This study is not meant to cause alarm, as the complications looked for in the study are common complications of pregnancy: preeclampsia, gestational hypertension and gestational diabetes. All pregnant women are screened and monitored for these complications, while receiving prenatal care. This study was merely pointing out that women born pre-maturely are more likely to have one of these complications. Therefore, women born pre-maturely should inform their doctors and beware of these issues.

These two studies are important to be aware if you have having a premature birth or if you were born prematurely. The more information that women and their families have going into a pregnancy the better off they will be.

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