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According to the study, the rate of preterm birth in the United States is on the rise. new report From the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, It can cause more health problems for the infant and mother.
A report released this week found that the rate of preterm births (gestational age less than 37 weeks) increased by 12% between 2014 and 2022, from 7.74% to 8.67%.
This increase was relatively consistent overall regardless of age or race, although black and Hispanic mothers were more likely to give birth prematurely than whites. Also, older mothers are generally more likely to give birth prematurely than mothers at a younger age.
Because babies born prematurely are not fully developed, they can have short-term health problems such as fighting infections, breathing and stomach problems, and require longer hospital stays. In the long term, premature babies may develop concerns such as asthma, dental problems, hearing loss, stomach problems, and even intellectual and developmental delays. March of Dimes. Health problems can also occur if a pregnant person gives birth early.
CDC researchers looked at birth certificate data recording unmarried births registered in the United States from 2014 to 2022.
But they didn’t speculate about what would happen. We are driving this trend forward. In general, doctors don’t really know why some people give birth earlier than their due date, even though some conditions and factors seem to increase the risk.
“I really wanted to know. I think this increase is pretty surprising,” said Caitlin Stanhope, an assistant professor at Emory University whose research focuses on the effects of stress on women’s health and pregnancy. the doctor said. “This is a trend that has been happening for a long time. This study was conducted through 2014, but preterm births have been increasing in the U.S. for much longer than that.”
Stanhope was not involved in the new research., The tendency for people to have children later in life and the increasing number of people having children through IVF may influence the numbers, and both factors may be associated with an increased risk of premature birth. he said. But Stanhope doesn’t think that fully explains what’s going on.
This could be environmental, she says, because everyone is experiencing increases across races and ages. This may include exposure to: particle pollutionother studies have shown that it may increase preterm birth.
Psychosocial stressors such as chronic stress, anxiety, lack of support, unstable housing, and malnutrition can also increase the risk of early birth.
“It’s certainly a multifactorial thing,” he said Dr. Ellie RagsdaleShe is a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, obstetrics, and fetal medicine at University Hospitals in Cleveland and was not involved in the CDC report. “My initial reaction to this study was that preterm birth rates continue to rise in this country because Americans across the globe are getting sicker.”
As the number of obese people is increasing, Ragsdale noted that it can cause health problems that increase the risk of premature birth. According to the US, more than 1 in 4 women are overweight and more than 2 in 5 adults (42.4% of the US population) are obese. National Institutes of Health. Obese people are more likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes, and other conditions such as preeclampsia, which can cause premature birth.
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Dr. Manisha Gandhi, chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ obstetric practice guidelines committee, believes this trend has nothing to do with doctors’ early induction. She said medical guidelines strongly discourage the practice and the number is decreasing over the years. She also does not believe that it is due to some biological change that shortens the gestation period in people.
If anything, she says, the COVID-19 pandemic may have had an impact on the rate.
people Studies have shown that people infected with the new coronavirus are at increased risk of giving birth early. Many people also put off medical appointments during the pandemic, which can affect their overall health.
Gandhi said it was important to prioritize health before getting pregnant to reduce the chance of premature birth.
“Pregnancy is not the time to lose weight, control blood pressure, or start diabetes treatment,” she says. “It’s ideal to have these things in place before you get pregnant, because once you’re pregnant you won’t have enough time to optimize your health.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly defined preterm birth. Preterm birth occurs before 37 weeks of pregnancy.