BMJ  2006;332:924-925 (22 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7547.924

Editorial

Why should preterm births be rising?

If a rise is confirmed, the implications are considerable

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Preterm birth is a major contributor to neonatal and infant mortality. Few interventions have improved outcome, and management remains an important challenge in modern obstetrics. A paper in this week's BMJ indicates that preterm delivery rates are increasing, which is a worrying prospect.1

Preterm deliveries account for fewer than 1 in 10 births but result in 75% of neonatal deaths and most neonatal intensive care admissions.2 Preterm birth has considerable impact on long term future health: 1 in 4 survivors born at less than 25 weeks' gestation have severe mental or physical disability.3 Those born at less than 28 weeks spend 85 times as long in hospital as term babies in the first five years of life, with substantial healthcare costs.4 Even beyond 32 weeks, when "neurologically intact" survival is good, educational and behavioural problems occur in 1 in 3 children at the age of 7. This type of . . . [Full text of this article]

A H Shennan, professor of obstetrics

King's College London School of Medicine, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH
(andrew.shennan@kcl.ac.uk)

S Bewley, consultant obstetrican

King's College London School of Medicine, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH


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Spontaneous preterm delivery in primiparous women at low risk in Denmark: population based study
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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Chandiramani, M., Shennan, A. H (2008). Cervical insufficiency: prediction, diagnosis and prevention. The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist 10: 99-106 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Braun, A., Xu, H., Hu, F., Kocherlakota, P., Siegel, D., Chander, P., Ungvari, Z., Csiszar, A., Nedergaard, M., Ballabh, P. (2007). Paucity of Pericytes in Germinal Matrix Vasculature of Premature Infants. J. Neurosci. 27: 12012-12024 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Cornish, J, Tan, E, Teare, J, Teoh, T G, Rai, R, Clark, S K, Tekkis, P P (2007). A meta-analysis on the influence of inflammatory bowel disease on pregnancy. Gut 56: 830-837 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Jakobsson, M., Gissler, M., Sainio, S., Paavonen, J., Tapper, A.-M. (2007). Preterm Delivery After Surgical Treatment for Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia. Obstet Gynecol 109: 309-313 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Haines, T., Stringer, B. (2006). Physical exertion at work during pregnancy did not increase risk of preterm delivery or fetal growth restriction. Evid. Based Med. 11: 156-156 [Full text]  
  • Haines, T., Stringer, B. (2006). Physical exertion at work during pregnancy did not increase risk of preterm delivery or fetal growth restriction. Evid. Based Nurs. 9: 121-121 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

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Corticosteroids may not be very effective
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bmj.com, 22 Apr 2006 [Full text]
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