The Weight Of The Pregnant Woman, Key In Premature Births
The causes of premature births are still a great unknown for specialists. Most premature births are of unknown cause, although some circumstances may favor them.
Among those circumstances that may favor them, we can mention maternal age, being under 20 or over 40 years old, previous history of premature birth, multiple pregnancies, physical or mental stress, maternal history of alcoholism, drug addiction, smoking, maternal malnutrition or diseases. during pregnancy such as hypertension or infection.
But many mothers do not know what the causes of preterm labor have been. There are many premature births to young mothers without associated problems.
During pregnancy, one of the great concerns that all pregnant women have is the possibility that their child will be born prematurely. A child is considered premature if it is born at 37 weeks. Although every premature child is different, being born early can pose a high risk to the baby and the mother.
Premature labor
A pregnancy is considered full term when it exceeds 37 weeks of gestation, being a normal delivery that occurs between weeks 37 and 42. When the child is born before 37 weeks it is called “premature or preterm”, as they explain us at APREM, the National Association of Parents of Premature.
The premature child is born with an “immaturity” of his organs and systems of respiration, temperature control, digestion, or metabolism. These circumstances make the premature baby more vulnerable to diseases due to its lack of defenses and more sensitive to external agents such as light or noise.
Not all premature infants will present the same problems and each one should be evaluated by a group of specialists to determine what comprehensive treatment should be followed. Normally, those under 35 weeks of gestation must remain admitted to the Neonatology Units for a while.
Those considered large premature babies, those born less than 32 weeks or weighing less than one and a half kilograms, will spend a longer time in the hospital and will have a greater risk of developing problems.
For a few years they have tried to prevent premature births since they have soared in recent times around the world. Working to prevent these risk factors could significantly reduce premature births and infant mortality worldwide.
The weight of the pregnant woman
For a few years one of the research routes of specialists and researchers is to try to know the causes of premature birth. One of the symptoms that specialists have recently established as a possible cause of premature birth is the body mass index of the pregnant woman.
According to a study conducted by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, in the United States, 25 percent of premature births could be due to the mother’s body mass index before it, and weight during pregnancy.
The researchers found that the highest risks for premature birth were in women who were underweight, who increased little during pregnancy, or increased only in short periods of time throughout gestation.
They have also found that excessive weight gain in obese women increases risk. Therefore, it is important to maintain the weight that our doctor recommends and see a specialist if we notice that our weight is below or above what would be normal.
The investigation
The expert group studied birth records in Ohio from 2006 to 2011, including nearly 400,000 cases, and focused on mothers who delivered only one delivery at a time – that is, they did not take multiple births into account.
The scientific work also found that aspects such as the issue of low weight occurred in 90 percent of mothers who had children prematurely. In addition, they found that less than half of women start pregnancy with a normal weight and only 32 percent achieve the ideal weight gain during it.
The research concluded that mothers must pay special attention to achieving an appropriate weight before pregnancy and having adequate nutrition to obtain the necessary weight gain during pregnancy.
