Premature Births
Thursday 24th September 2009 22:46
A National Newspaper revealed that Premature Births have risen by more than 16 percent since 1980's, with majority of them connected to obesity-related diabetes.
The proportion of premature babies increased from 54 per 1000 births between 1980 and 1985 to 63 per 1000 between 2000 and 2005. This shows a sevenfold rise in premature births where the mother was diabetic before pregnancy and a fourfold rise in early births linked to gestational diabetes.
Researchers analysed data from 90,000 births between 1980 and 2005 to find that whilst formerly high blood pressure was the main factor effecting early labour, at present it has been replaced by diabetes becoming the main factor. This rise may be because of more women having obesity-linked diabetes or a better diagnosis of gestational diabetes, as voiced by Prof Jane Norman of Tommy's Centre for Maternal and Foetal Health Research.
