Preterm Birth In The United States

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2016), preterm birth are the birth that happened before 37 ended weeks of pregnancy and is one of the number reason of newborn deaths and the second prominent cause of deaths in children below five. The preterm babies have chances of an amplified risk of illness, disability and death. In the first weeks, the complications of premature birth may include: breathing problems, heart problems, brain problems, temperature control problems, gastrointestinal problems, blood problems, metabolism problems, immune system problems. Long-term complications includes cerebral palsy, impaired cognitive skills, vision problem, hearing problems, dental problems, behavioral and psychological problems, chronic health issues.

Babies born earlier, such as 25 weeks will need medical support in order to survive and are usually placed in incubator – designed to keep baby worm and free from infection. Premature babies are at a higher risk of developing, sight problems or learning difficulties.

Why do African Americans have a higher rate of infant mortality, low birth weights and preterm delivery? Evidence

Childbirth is one of the greatest privileges on the earth anyone could have and we, as women, should feel proud to be major contributors for it. Thus, a mother has to play a key role in aiding the healthcare workers to mitigate the health crisis associated with childbirth by performing her duties faithfully. One such associated health crisis is “Premature (preterm) birth” which occurs when the baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of gestational period (CDC, 2015). The rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born across 184 countries (WHO, 2015).

According to Healthy People 2020, "Improving the well-being of mothers, infants, and children, is an important public health goal for the United States. Their well-being determines the health of the next generation and can help predict future public health challenges for families, communities, and the health care system" (Healthy People 2020, 2015). Infant mortality is defined as the death of an infant before his or her first birthday, while fetal mortality is defined as the intrauterine death of a fetus at any gestational age (MMRW, 2013 and MacDorman, Kirmeyer & Wilson, 2012). In the United States an estimated 13,000 fetal deaths occurred ≥ 28 weeks gestation making up 28% of all perinatal deaths in 2006, the latest year with available national data (Lee,

This study used survey from the California Maternal and Infant Health Assessment and birth certificate as a data collection method. They surveyed 10,400 U.S. born African American and white Americans who gave birth during 2003 to 2010 and examined rates and relative likelihoods of preterm birth. We from this study that socioeconomic advantage is mainly associated with lower preterm birth rates among White Americans but not African Americans. Although socioeconomic fact plays an important role in preterm birth it is still plays a complex role.

Discuss disparities related to ethnic and cultural groups relative to low birth weight infants and preterm births.

A premature birth is a birth that takes place more than three weeks before the baby is due. A normal pregnancy usually lasts about 40 weeks. The importance of growth and development of the baby happens through pregnancy. Premature birth gives the baby less time to develop in the mother’s womb. A late preterm is when a baby is born between 34-36 weeks of pregnancy. Moderately preterm are born between 32-34 weeks. Very preterm is born less than 32 weeks of pregnancy and extremely preterm is born before 25 weeks. “Each year nearly 500,000 babies are premature or preemies. That is about 1 out of every 8 infants born in the U.S.”

-Race or ethnicity: Historically, minority populations in the United States have had higher rates of preterm delivery. In 2007, non-Hispanic White women accounted for the lowest number of preterm births in the United States, accounting for only 11.5% of all preterm births (MacDorman, 2011). In contrast, non-Hispanic Blacks, Puerto Ricans, American Indians and Hispanic women had preterm birth levels of 18.3%, 14.5%, 13.9% and 12.3% respectively (MacDorman, 2011). The Asian minority had the lowest risk at 10.9% (MacDorman, 2011). Some studies have attributed such significant differences to racial disparities in resources and health care (Dominguez, 2008; Vanderbilt & Wright, 2013). However, other studies such as Menon’s et al, which looked at differences in White versus Black women, suggest that racial disparities in preterm birth may

In 2013, 16.3% non-Hispanic black infants were born preterm, 10.2% non-Hispanic white and 11.3% Hispanic infants. The preterm birth disparities between white and black infants still exists. Hispanic women account 1 out of every 4 which is 23.2% in U.S alone. The 2013 preterm birth rate for black infants was 60% higher than the rate for non-Hispanic white infants and 44% higher than the rate for Hispanic infants (March of Dimes, n.d). The impact of low weight babies are extremely high, not only on physical but emotional and financial aspect as well. Both the families and the community may have mixed emotional feelings. For the first time parents or even to other parents, having low weight babies or preterm infants can be costly and at times,

Socioeconomic conditions also played a role in my preterm birth, because I live with someone who smoked cigarettes and also used illicit drugs from time to time. As a result I delivered a baby girl at 24 weeks gestation which is 16 weeks premature and was just two weeks beyond the point of viability. My child weighed 1 lb. 8 oz. and was 12 inches long. The psychological effects after the birth of my child were even more devastating. Knowing that the situation could have been prevented has always weighed heavy on my mind as my child battle with many issues due to her prematurity. These issues resulted in the use of oxygen, and apnea monitor, and also a feeding tube. In the beginning there were many developmental delays such as, she did call until she was one years old and she did not walk until she was two years old. Though those were the short term effects, there are also long-term effects such as lack of confidence and attention deficit disorder. Vision problems are another long- term effect that my daughter suffered from preterm birth. In many cases, the retina will detach from the eye causing blindness around the actual due date. Fortunately for me and my daughter we were able to avoid the detachment but we still have to deal with the vision problems caused by early delivery.

It is difficult for women with little money or no health insurance to get the appropriate amount of maternity care that they need in the United States. America has one of the highest maternal mortality rates out of all of the major countries in the world even though the maternity care in America is one of the most expensive. Receiving prenatal care and giving birth at a hospital can cost well over a couple of thousand dollars in the United States. A lot of professional jobs in America offer health insurance, which covers maternity care, but not all jobs come with the benefit of health insurance. It is possible to buy health insurance if one does not have a job or a job that covers it, but it costs a couple of hundred dollars a month. America

In 2012, Li et al. conducted a study in order to investigate whether there was a correlation between the birth country of mothers and the likelihood of preterm birth in Sweden. They defined preterm birth as delivery before 37 weeks. The researchers drew their data from the WomMed II Database which contained information, including prenatal care and hospital admissions of 99% of all. births in Sweden between 1973 and

Pregnancy is normally the best and the happiest stage of any woman, but it can also be uncertain because anything can go wrong if you do not know exactly what to do. In order to understand the reasons of why Preterm Birth occurs, it is important to know what it is and how risky it can be. Preterm Birth is also known as Premature labor which mainly begins after “20 weeks but before 37 completed week’s gestations. Approximately 12.9 million babies worldwide are born too early every year representing an incidence of PTB of 9.6%” (Berghella, pp. 2, 8). Baby Center Medical Advisory Board says that about 12 percent of babies

While some women who received no prenatal care had normal, uncomplicated births, others did not. Most of the women who did not receive adequate prenatal care gave birth to an underweight and underdeveloped infant. Among the benefits of early, comprehensive prenatal care are decreased risk of preterm deliveries and low birth weight (LBW)-both major predictors of infant morbidity and mortality. (Dixon, Cobb, Clarke, 2000). Preterm deliveries, deliveries prior to 37 weeks of gestation, have risen. Since the studies in 1987, which showed the rate of preterm deliveries as 6.9% of births, the 1997 rate shows an increase to 7.5%. Low birth weight, defined as an infant weighing less than 2500 grams (5lbs. 5oz) is often preceded by preterm delivery. Low