New Studies Indicate That Premature Babies Can be Prevented
A regular pregnancy period lasts for a total of nine months when the fetus is supplied with nutrients from the mother. These nine months are very vital for the fetus’s survival rate as this is when it develops its internal organs and other necessary processes. However, every year more than 440,000 premature babies are born. Without the necessary nine month gestation period, these premature babies have a wide multitude of health problems ranging from neurological disorders to meningitis.
In an effort, to prevent future premature births, researchers at the University of Illinois have been studying and developing practices that would allow doctors to predict who would be at risk for a premature baby. With this information, doctors could tailor their treatment plans to be more patient specific for their at-risk mothers.
In an effort, to prevent future premature births, researchers at the University of Illinois have been studying and developing practices that would allow doctors to predict who would be at risk for a premature baby. With this information, doctors could tailor their treatment plans to be more patient specific for their at-risk mothers.
Ultrasound of a premature baby.
Image Source: "Pregnancy ultrasound 110304110838 1113000" by Nevit Dilmen is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Previous studies have shown that the two ways to test whether a women was going into preterm labor is if they have short cervixes or have cervical insufficiency. The cervix is the opening to the uterus that opens and gets thinner and softer for the baby to pass through. Using short cervixes as a starting point, research lead Barbara McFarlin began trying to understand how to identify who would have short cervixes in order to identify who would have premature babies.
McFarlin began this study by creating three separate groups: women who have previously had a premature baby, pregnant women who, at 20 weeks, have a shortened cervix, and a control group. This total of 800 women would each take two ultrasound exams of their cervix.
After studying pregnant mice, McFarlin focused her research on the collagen present in cervixes. She used ultrasounds to test whether the collagen tissue changed in the cervix. She realized that the early change in the cervix collagen levels was indicative of a shortened cervix.
McFarlin’s research is extremely important because it did not simply focus on prevention, but it expanded towards improving established treatment methods too. Current treatment for women with short cervixes and women who have already delivered a premature baby involves taking the hormone progesterone. However, this only reduced the probability of having a premature baby by 40%.
Pregnancy is considered the “ordinary miracle.” Something so complicated and beautiful seems to be very common as 360,000 babies are born every day. However, one of every 10 babies is born too early and suffers very serious complications resulting from being a premature baby. Hopefully, McFarlin’s research can reduce this statistic in the future.
McFarlin began this study by creating three separate groups: women who have previously had a premature baby, pregnant women who, at 20 weeks, have a shortened cervix, and a control group. This total of 800 women would each take two ultrasound exams of their cervix.
After studying pregnant mice, McFarlin focused her research on the collagen present in cervixes. She used ultrasounds to test whether the collagen tissue changed in the cervix. She realized that the early change in the cervix collagen levels was indicative of a shortened cervix.
McFarlin’s research is extremely important because it did not simply focus on prevention, but it expanded towards improving established treatment methods too. Current treatment for women with short cervixes and women who have already delivered a premature baby involves taking the hormone progesterone. However, this only reduced the probability of having a premature baby by 40%.
Pregnancy is considered the “ordinary miracle.” Something so complicated and beautiful seems to be very common as 360,000 babies are born every day. However, one of every 10 babies is born too early and suffers very serious complications resulting from being a premature baby. Hopefully, McFarlin’s research can reduce this statistic in the future.
Featured Image Source: "baby feet in hands on black" by Christine Szeto is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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