Premature Birth News and Research

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Impact of birth defects on families and nation

Two separate government reports highlight the economic costs of birth defects, focusing attention on the ongoing need for prevention.

22 Jan 2007

New technology tracks down intensive care cots for babies

Doctors in Britain will soon be able to use new technology to quickly find intensive care cots for premature or sick babies.

29 Nov 2006

Female survivors of childhood cancer: preterm birth and low birth weight among their children

Female childhood cancer survivors may face pregnancy problems, including early deliveries and low birth weight children, according to a study in the October 19 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

17 Oct 2006

One-third of infant deaths occur in prem babies

Almost twice as many infant deaths than previously estimated, are because babies are born prematurely.

2 Oct 2006

Preconception care for improving perinatal outcomes: The time to act

Continued improvements in the infant and maternal mortality rates will depend on interventions before a woman becomes pregnant, according to officials from the March of Dimes, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other experts.

19 Sep 2006

March of Dimes urges FDA to approve Gestiva

The March of Dimes has urged Food and Drug Administration officials to promptly approve a commercial progesterone therapy that appears to prevent some premature births.

30 Aug 2006

How safe is drug which prevents pre-term births? FDA will soon find out

Questions have been raised in the U.S. over the safety and effectiveness of a hormone based drug which is used in women who have a history of pre-term births.

29 Aug 2006

Abnormal cortical development after premature birth shown by altered allometric scaling of brain growth

Measurement of the way that the brain grows after birth in preterm infants, particularly the relation between brain surface area and cortical volume, may help to predict neurodevelopmental impairment.

2 Aug 2006

Lung disease study hope for premature babies

A Europe-wide trial involving premature babies is investigating whether the risk of chronic lung disease can be halved if they are given nitric oxide gas to breathe shortly after birth.

1 Aug 2006

$26 billion dollar bill for prem babies each year

According to experts one in every eight babies now is born prematurely and they are calling for earlier ultrasound examinations during pregnancy and tighter guidelines for infertility treatment as essential in the battle to control what they say is a growing problem.

17 Jul 2006

Why does prolonged IV feeding damage the liver?

Children who cannot eat on their own because of intestinal failure must rely on parenteral nutrition (PN), an intravenous method of feeding.

3 Jul 2006

Premature babies three times as likely to get hyperkinetic disorder

According to a Danish research team premature or low birth weight babies are up to three times as likely to become hyperactive, with low attention spans.

6 Jun 2006

US infant mortality rates show no significant improvements

Nearly 28,000 babies died before their first birthday, according to new infant mortality statistics for 2003 released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

8 May 2006

Preconception health care should be part of routine medical visits

Every visit to the doctor for women of childbearing age should be considered an opportunity to discuss reproductive health- especially since more than half of all pregnancies are unintended, according to a report published today in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Recommendations and Reports.

26 Apr 2006

Preconception health care should be part of routine medical visits

26 Apr 2006

Doctors show concern over rising preterm births

Doctors in the BMJ have expressed concern over the apparent increase in preterm births. The concerns are based on research showing that preterm deliveries increased by 22% from 1995 to 2004. Even among low risk women aged 20-40, there was a 51% increase in early delivery.

25 Apr 2006

Popular antidepressants may affect fetus

A team from the Ottawa Health Research Institute, the University of Ottawa, and The Ottawa Hospital has found an increased risk of premature delivery, low birth weight, fetal death, and infant seizures among pregnant women who used a popular class of antidepressants during pregnancy.

20 Apr 2006