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Washington - Surgeon General Gathers Panel To Disscuss High Rate Of Premature Births |
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"The United States is one of the worst of the developed countries in the rate of prematurity," said Dr. Alan Fleischman, medical director of the March of Dimes.
According to Fleischman, one out of every eight babies is now born too early, and that costs the United States about $26 billion a year.
"We need to decrease the numbers of sick babies in our midst. We can't continue to increase prematurity," he said.
Neonatologist Robin Baker says late preemies face developmental problems, just like babies born much earlier.
"And it's not uncommon for them to come out and still have respiratory problems. You know this infant still is at risk of dying. Just because they are born slightly preterm doesn't' take the risk to zero."
So today's surgeon general's conference is hoping to come up with an action plan by tomorrow.
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Read Comments (3) — Post Yours »
1
Jun 17, 2008 at 01:45 AM Anonymous Says:
As multiple births increase, premature births increase.
2
Jun 18, 2008 at 11:13 AM Anonymous Says:
As a parent of a premature baby I am curious to know what kind of action plan has been decided on, at the surgeous general's conference yesterday?
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Jun 18, 2008 at 12:00 PM Reb Yid Says:
Maybe it's also b/c that in certain communities which shall remain nameless, people don't go for pre-natal care, get pregnant unmarried at a young age, do drugs, have STDs, etc etc. All of these factors contribute to an increased likelihood of premature birth.
However, this will be discussed only peripherally b/c it's very politically incorrect to say such things. It sounds much better to say that the high rate of prematurity is from not throwing even more money at an already-bloated healthcare system, or b/c we're ignoring poor inner city minorities, etc.