Prematurity or Infant
Mortality
- Premature births are the direct cause for half of infants
who die
in the first month of life and 95% percent of those who are delivered
before the 32nd week of pregnancy, according to the report in September
2006’s Journal of Pediatrics.
- Preterm birth accounts for 12.5% of all births in the US
and 75%
of the prenatal mortality and childhood disabilities.
- The average initial hospital cost for a premature newborn
is over
$78,000; for a healthy newborn, the cost averages $1,300! The average
cost for a very low birth weight newborn is over $200,000!
- Preterm birth is the leading reason for extended NICU and
associated PICU length of stays.
- African-American women had an average prematurity rate of
18.8%
in Illinois in 2005.
- Preterm birth is not one disease for which there is likely
to be
one solution or cure.
- It consists of a complex cluster of problems with an
interrelated
set of factors that influence the outcome.
- This complexity makes detection of solutions difficult.
- Causes are multiple and vary for different populations.
- There is no
“Silver Bullet”!