Health Highlights

Search Health Content   Print This Page     Email to a Friend

Pregnancy Feature Story << return to Pregnancy Topic

The Ever-Shrinking Pregnancy Average length of gestation is getting shorter in the United States (HealthDay News) -- The average pregnancy has gotten a week shorter -- down to 39 weeks from the standard 40 that's considered full-term, according to a U.S. report. Babies who are born close to the 40-week mark are still considered premature, meaning they still face greater health risks. These babies are known as "late preterm." "Most of the rise in prematurity is related to these so-called late preterm babies," Dr. Nancy Green, medical director of the March of Dimes in White Plains, N.Y., told HealthDay. "In terms of numbers, it's enormous." About 70 percent of babies born prematurely in the United States are late preterm. That's about 355,000 babies each year. These babies, like preterm infants born earlier in a pregnancy, can have serious complications, such as respiratory distress syndrome and low blood sugar, and may require long stays in a neonatal intensive care unit. "They certainly have more complications at birth and end up anywhere from a few days to a few weeks in the neonatal ICU," Green said. Yet most of the attention paid to prematurity focuses on babies born before the 34th week of pregnancy. "Nobody has been focusing on the babies at more than 34 weeks," Dr. Amanda Cotter, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, told HealthDay. "Are we doing the right thing by not bringing them to full-term?" Between 1992 and 2002, the number of babies born at, or after, 40 weeks decreased by 21 percent, according to the report conducted by the March of Dimes and published in the journal Seminars in Perinatology. At the same time, births that occurred between 34 and 36 weeks of gestation increased by 12 percent. The study authors suspect that an increase in induced labor and the number of Caesarean sections may be partly to blame for the increase. But early delivery isn't always a problem, Green pointed out. "Some of this is a success story: better maternal and fetal monitoring, detecting problems early and intervening before calamities happen," she said. While expectant mothers can't always control their due dates, one thing that is in their control is ensuring a healthy pregnancy, she suggested. To do that, according to the National Women's Health Information Center, pregnant women should: Eat a healthy diet and make sure they get at least 400 micrograms of folic acid daily. Keep food safety in mind when preparing and eating food. Don't clean cat litter boxes. Visit a doctor regularly. Get sufficient sleep -- about seven to nine hours a night. Don't smoke, drink alcohol or use illegal drugs. Check with a doctor before taking any over-the-counter medication. On the Web To learn more about having a healthy pregnancy, check out information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. SOURCES: HealthDay News; Nancy Green, M.D., medical director, March of Dimes, White Plains, N.Y.; Michael J. Davidoff, manager of informatics, research and development, March of Dimes, White Plains, N.Y.; Amanda Cotter, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami; March 2006 Seminars in Perinatology; National Women's Health Information Center (www.womenshealth.gov) Author: Serena Gordon Publication Date: March 31, 2007 Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.