A Brief Rant on Prematurity Awareness . . . Medical Monday

Monday, November 23, 2009 5:21

Posted in category Preemies

Today, for Prematurity Awareness Month and Medical Monday, I’d like to share a personal rant.

Each October, stores are flooded with pink ribbon merchandise. Newspapers, magazines, websites, even grocery store ads, manage to “think pink.” According to the National Cancer Institute, 12.7% of women, or 1 in 8, will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. This is almost exactly the same as the preterm birth rate, yet the amount of media and fundraising attention given to prematurity is almost nonexistent in comparison.

Did you know that:

1 in 8 babies born in the US are premature.
That means that in 2006 542,893 babies were born premature. That is 12.8% of live births (data from Peristats).
That equals 10,440 babies born preterm every week, and 45,250 babies born too soon this month alone
13 babies will die today because they were born too soon
According to the CDC, the preterm birth rate has increased more than 20% since 1990.
In 2005, preterm birth cost the United States at least $26.2 billion, or $51,600 for every infant born preterm.
Direct health care costs to employers for a premature baby average $41,610 —15 times higher than the $2,830 for a healthy, full-term delivery.
This figure does not include the cost of lost productivity that results from preterm birth.

Prematurity is NOT a small or insignificant problem.

Prematurity kills, disables and causes lifelong medical problems.

Prematurity causes PTSD and increased rates of postpartum depression in mothers.

Prematurity has a devastating economic impact on families.

So, what are should we doing differently? How do we raise awareness of prematurity to the level it deserves – the same level as causes like breast cancer?

And just in case you’re wondering, I don’t think there should be any less attention given to worthy causes like breast cancer awareness. I just want to do something to raise prematurity awareness to that same level!

2 Responses to “A Brief Rant on Prematurity Awareness . . . Medical Monday”

Mike Walsh says:

December 9th, 2009 at 7:13 am

It’s amazing how vast the differences in patient-population representation are in our own society. Do you think it’s a coincidence that preemies (and by extension their parents), who don’t vote, don’t belong to the AARP, who don’t fund campaigns or testify at hearings, are getting the short end of the stick?
The March of Dimes is great but focused primarily on ‘prevention.’ The infant born premature has little outlet for advocating for change to improve the outcomes that you astutely identify above. Thanks for the noise!
Leanne Turner says:

March 10th, 2010 at 11:49 am

I completely agree with the rant on prematurity, it is not put out there like other causes are and it really should be. You said that in 2006 542,893 babies were born premature, my daughter was one of them in 2006. My daughter was born April 3rd, 2006 4lbs 2oz, 2 months premature. She spent a few weeks in the NICU. I was scared to death that I was going to lose my baby with everything that was happening. People dont realize how much of a deal this problem is until they go through it and I personally feel they need to put it more out there in the media to help these people be aware of how often this happens to families. My daughter was one of the few that pulled through after all of the medical problems at birth she is now soon to be 4yrs old and is as healthy as can be. I thank the people that blog these types of things, it helps to know more about whats going on. So alls I can say is thank you for standing up for a cause like this Im standin right there beside you trying to get the word out!!

Leanne