Focus on premature babies
Around 15 million babies are born prematurely annually, that is 1 in 10 babies born worldwide.
World Prematurity Day is observed on 17 November each year. www.mobserver.co.za spoke to paediatrician Dr Riekert Swart about this often traumatic experience.
Stats on premature babies
• Around 15 million babies are born prematurely annually, that is 1 in 10 babies born worldwide.
• Of these, around 1 million babies die from complications due to prematurity.
• More than three-quarters of these babies could be saved through better access to quality care and medicines for both mother and baby.
• Preterm is defined as babies born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy are completed.
• Extreme premature babies are born before 28 weeks gestation while babies born between 36-37 weeks are late premature babies.
Many survivors face a lifetime of disability, including learning disabilities, visual problems and hearing problems. Globally, prematurity is the leading cause of death in children under the age of 5. In almost all countries with reliable data, preterm birth rates are increasing.
Preterm birth occurs for a variety of reasons:
- Most preterm births happen spontaneously, but some are due to early induction of labour or caesarean birth, whether for medical or non-medical reasons.
- Common causes of preterm birth include multiple pregnancies, infections and chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, however, often no cause is identified.
- There could also be a genetic influence.
A better understanding of the causes and mechanisms will advance the development of solutions to prevent preterm birth.
On World Prematurity Day we not only focus on improving care during pregnancy for the prevention of premature births but also highlight the enormous amount of emotional strain premature births place on the parents of the premature baby.
Read: The journey of a premature baby – from 640 g to a healthy 8 kilograms
During a premature baby’s stay in a neonatal intensive care unit parents are usually only allowed to visit their baby during visiting times, placing strain on the bonding process.
Due to the invasive procedures sometimes needed to care for these infants, parents feel overwhelmed and helpless.
Not only do parents have emotional strain but the premature baby is also being stressed due to procedures, even at times, complications lead to disability.
Therefore the theme for this year’s World Prematurity Day “Let them thrive! Respectful care for the smallest” lies close to my heart because I feel that each premature baby needs to get the care they need but if it is not done with the utmost respect it is not even worth it.
