As prescribed by the PREEMIE Act, on June 16th and 17th, 2008, the Surgeon General’s Conference on Prevention of Preterm Birth convened to discuss issues and research initiatives related to reducing the preterm birth rate in the United States.  So far, the biggest news out of the conference that I’ve heard, is the announcement by the March of Dimes that they are extending their preterm birth campaign by ten years, until 2020.

While I’m happy that the March of Dimes will continue to focus on preterm birth, I was hoping to hear something a little more earth shattering.  I’d love to hear from any readers out there who have a scoop on the goings on at the Surgeon General’s Conference.

If you’re in the know, please leave a comment and share, or drop me a line using my contact form!

A few days ago, I found out about a promotion that supports the March of Dimes from My Baby Nest, LLC, the makers of the My Baby Nest baby carrier. During the month of June, for every baby purchased on www.MyBabyNest.com, My Baby Nest will donate a carrier to the March of Dimes.

My Baby Nest has sweetened the deal even more, by offering a 10% discount to NICU 101 readers. Just enter the code NICU10 at checkout, to receive your discount.

According to My Baby Nest, the carrier is “made of an ultra soft, 100% hypoallergenic, flexible specialty fabric that makes it the only baby carrier on the market that offers the necessary support premature and newborn babies need.” The carrier is still versatile though, allowing for multiple different carrying positions as your baby grows. The unique, double-loop design distributes your baby’s weight across your body, without the need to wrap a complicated carrier.

If you’re looking for a way to wear your preemie, give My Baby Nest a try, benefit the March of Dimes and get a great deal too!

A joint effort of the March of Dimes, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine analyzed data on the rising premature birth rate, and found that 92 percent of the increase in singleton premature birth is due to c-sections. Birth data from 1996 to 2004 showed an increase of almost 60,000 singleton preterm births per year. Late preterm babies, born between 34 and 36 weeks, accounted for the majority of this increase.  The study is published in the June issue of Clinics in Perinatology.

At this point, the thing we don’t know is how many of these c-sections were medically necessary. (more…)

A study published online in the Maternal and Child Health Journal has revealed a link between major birth defects and preterm birth. The research, which addresses one of the goals set forth in the PREEMIE Act, looked at the birth data from 13 states for the time period of 1995-2000 (about 30% of all US births during that time) and analyzed the outcomes of singleton live births between 24 and 44 weeks gestational age. And no, that’s not a typo, I meant to type 44 weeks . . .

Overall analysis showed that birth defects were twice as common in preterm births between 24 and 36 weeks as compared to term babies born during the same time period. (more…)

The impact of prematurity goes far beyond developmental and medical problems.  Often times, it has an enormous financial impact on families that can last years into the future.  Aside from the medical costs of a NICU hospitalization, other financial burdens include meals, parking and gas while visiting your baby in the NICU, and lost days at work and lost jobs due to prolonged hospital stays.  After the NICU, physician, therapy and pharmacy copays, as well as lost income can continue to be a problem.  I’ve also read that parents of preemies also suffer from a higher than average divorce rate, either adding to, or resulting from financial problems.

I’d love to hear from anyone and everyone about any financial resources you’ve found to help defray medical costs or other expenses for your preemie.  Anything about SSI requirements, medicaid spend downs, or other programs would be appreciated.  All relevant comments will compiled into an article for the site.

Thanks in advance for everyone’s help!

-Kristie

Last week, I discussed the ongoing debate over which babies should receive Synagis, a medication which is used to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in preemies and other high risk infants and toddlers.  RSV is a common respiratory virus which can have severe complications in preemies and babies with certain heart and lung conditions.  Ideally, we would have an economical vaccine which could protect all children from RSV, which happens to be the leading cause of hospitalization for infants and children in the US.

So far, there has been little to no success in developing an RSV vaccine, but a $600,000 grant awarded to GenVec may move us one step closer.  GenVec was awarded the 2 year grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to fund research and development of an RSV vaccine.  According to Dr. Rick King, GenVec’s Senior Vice President of Research, the “overall goal of this program is to develop a safe vaccine that provides protection against RSV.”  GenVec is currently using its proprietary adenovector technology to develop vaccines for infectious diseases including HIV, malaria, foot-and-mouth disease, RSV, and influenza.

A study published in the British Medical Journal has shown no improvement in the survival of 22 and 23 week preemies in more than a decade, while there has been significant improvement in the survival of 24 and 25 weekers over the same time period.  The study compared preemies born between 22 and 25 weeks in 1994-1999, to those born in the same region between 2000-2005.

While I haven’t been able to access the study itself yet, press releases indicate that the study found a 15% survival rate in 23 weekers, and no survival among 22 weekers during the study period.  In both time periods, close to 60% of 22-23 weeks died in the delivery room.  (more…)