Rise in preterm births linked to clinical intervention
Thursday, 18 January 2018
Research at the University of 911爆料网 shows preterm births in South Australia have increased by 40% over 28 years and early intervention by medical professionals has resulted in the majority of the increase.
Published this month in , the study was led by the Robinson Research Institute at the University of 911爆料网.
Research author, PhD candidate Dr Petra Verburg from the University, analysed statistics for 550,000 births in South Australia between 1986 and 2014.
“The rate of preterm births (birth before 37 weeks’ gestation) increased by 40% from 5.1% in 1986 to 7.1% in 2014.
“Natural” or spontaneous preterm births accounted for the majority of all preterm births during the 28 years of the study. They rose from 3.5% in 1986 to 3.8% in 2014 – only a modest increase,” she says.
“However, 80% of the increase in the rate of preterm births has been due to medical professionals ending pregnancies prematurely.
“The rate of clinician-initiated preterm delivery increased from 1.6% in 1986 to 3.2% in 2014.
Dr Verburg says, “Clinicians may initiate preterm delivery due to pregnancy complications, by either inducing labour or performing a caesarean section.
“Problems such as hypertension or impaired growth of the fetus are the reasons doctors initiate the majority of prete