Early births rise over past 2 decades

The trend of women giving birth early, without a medical reason, poses various health risks to both the mother and child.

"For every day and every week before 39 weeks, it's an increasing risk to the baby," said Dr. Bryan Oshiro, vice chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Loma Linda University. "The vast majority of early-term babies do fine, but it's like playing Russian roulette."

Shortening a pregnancy deliberately can curb the baby's lung development, his vision, weight and tuning of the brain.

Such babies sleep much more than the normal ones and are slow to learn breast feeding.

Fetus duration cut down by 7 days
According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average time spent by a fetus in the mother’s womb has been cut down by seven days since 1992.

A separate study conducted on 18,000 deliveries in 2007 claims that almost 9.6 percent of the deliveries were early births without any medical reason.

Though normal pregnancy duration is 40 weeks, few doctors say that induced delivery at a full 39 weeks is safe.

Out of all the births in the United States between 1990 and 2006, the number of babies born at the 36 weeks increased by about 30 percent while the number of babies born at the 37 and 38 weeks had gone up 40 percent.

"The entire bell curve has shifted," said Dr. Jeanne Conry, California district chairwoman of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Last weeks of pregnancy important
Early births via induction or C-section without a medical reason are twice more likely to enter the neonatal intensive care unit, researchers claim.

"We are finding out that the last weeks of pregnancy really do count," said Leslie Kowalewski, an associate state director for the March of Dimes. "At 35 weeks, the brain is only two-thirds of what it will weigh at 40 weeks."

Lack of updated knowledge is the main factor behind the rising trend of early births for non medical reasons.

"I haven't met a woman who wasn't willing to continue her pregnancy if given information," said Debra Bingham, vice president of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric & Neonatal Nurses in Washington, D.C.

"I've had experience with women who clearly didn't understand the risks of an elective induction, but it's also fair to say that there are a lot of doctors, nurses and childbirth educators who aren't aware of the risks."