Essay On Preterm Birth

Preterm Birth Almost one million children die each year due to complications of preterm birth. That is 1 in 10 babies (“March”)! Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at less than 37 completed weeks of gestational age. Theses babies are known as “preemies”(“March”). NICU Manager Hope Garcia of South Carolinas Spartanburg Regional medical center states that the unit cares for 450 preterm babies each year. “Preterm birth is a huge problem, especially in the county. Preemies are very expensive, suffer through long and short term effects, also have a huge increased death rate” (Garcia). In South Carolina,13.8% of babies are born premature. South Carolina has a letter grade of D, meaning preterm birth rate is greater than or equal to 12.9% but less than 14.6% (“March”). Urgent attention is needed to better understand and reduce rates of preterm birth. Different premature babies suffer long-term effects. Long- term effects …show more content…
There are certain drugs that the preemie will take to promote a babies maturing and to stimulate normal functioning lungs, heart, and circulation (“Preterm”). Another treatment is to give the baby caffeine. Caffeine is is the most common therapies used in preemies because it helps stimulate the diaphragm and lungs, and most importantly, it stimulates the brain to remind the baby to breathe (Shepherd). There is five steps to reducing preterm birth. First step it to discourage elective C-sections and labor inductions unless theres a compelling medical reason. Two, reducing embryos transferred during fertility treatment. Third, stop smoking, drinking, and doing drugs. Fourth, woman with high risk pregnancies be provided with progesterone supplementation. Lastly, preforming cervical cerclage; minor surgical procedure, on pregnant women with short cervixes. By following the five stops you can reduce premature birth by 0.5% and safe the society 3 billion dollars (“Premature