News from October 2009

Dr. David Olson awarded!

October 28, 2009

Dr. David Olson (PreHOT Co-director) was admitted as a Fellow (ad eundem) to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in London, England in September 2009.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Headlines Rising Premature Births!

October 5, 2009

About eight per cent of babies born in Canada each year arrive too soon, and many of them need extra support that isn’t available, a group says.

Premature infants face increased risks of illness and death. Every year, a million premature babies around the world don’t survive, according to the March of Dimes. Those who do face higher rates of learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, respiratory illness and are more likely to have developmental and behavioural problems.

The increasing incidence of pre-term births results in more low birth weight babies with their attendant health risks, says the Ottawa-based Community Foundation of Canada, which will release report cards on the topic in 16 communities across the country on Tuesday.

“How do we prepare for a future where we might see an increase in learning needs, and increase in public health issues?” said the group’s president and CEO, Monica Patten. “How do we get ready for that?”

In Canada, many babies arrive early when doctors induce deliveries or do caesarian sections in late-term pregnancies in which the mom or baby appears to be at risk, said Dr. Michael Kramer, a professor at McGill University in Montreal who is an internationally known expert on pre-term birth.

The rate of premature births in Canada has gone up more than 25 per cent since the mid-1980s, Kramer said. He attributed the trend to more older mothers and the increasing use of fertility treatments that often result in twins or multiple births who are more likely to be delivered preterm.

Babies born even a few weeks early have a small increased risk of respiratory illness, infection, developmental problems and death, he said.

“We need to keep the adverse [or the] disadvantages of early delivery in mind when we’re making those decisions about when to induce and when to have caesarian section,” said Kramer.

Please see the cbc website here:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/10/05/premature-babies-canada.html

March of Dimes Report Describes Global Death Toll

October 5, 2009

Full Extent of the Prematurity Crisis Still Unknown, March of Dimes Says!

More than one million infants die each year because they are born too early, according to the just released White Paper, The Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth.

The new White Paper shows that in 2005, an estimated 13 million babies worldwide were born preterm—defined as birth at less than 37 full weeks of gestation. That is almost 10 percent of total births worldwide. About one million deaths in the first month of life (or 28 percent of total newborn deaths) are attributable to preterm birth.

According to the White Paper, the highest preterm birth rates in the world are found in Africa, followed by North America (United States and Canada combined).

These data are being presented at the 4th International Conference on Birth Defects and Disabilities in the Developing World to be held in early October in New Delhi, India.

“Premature births are an enormous global problem that is exacting a huge toll emotionally, physically, and financially on families, medical systems and economies,” says Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes. “In the United States alone, the annual cost of caring for preterm babies and their associated health problems tops $26 billion annually.

“If world leaders are serious about reaching the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health, then strategies and funding for reducing death and disability related to preterm birth must receive priority,” Dr. Howse adds.

Please see the full White Paper Report on preterm birth here