Doha: With preterm birth causing more than one million deaths each year, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has joined the rest of the world to observe World Prematurity Day. This was aimed at raising awareness of deaths and disabilities due to prematurity, addressing concerns about preterm babies, and the simple, proven, cost-effective measures that could prevent them.
“Prematurity occurs when babies are born before the normal term of 37-42 gestational weeks. So those babies born before 37 weeks are premature.” said HMC’s Women’s Hospital Consultant Paediatric Neonatologist, Dr Ahmed Farouk Eldakrouri.
He said in many cases, the reason why babies arrive early could be a mother’s pregnancy with twins or more, which is causing the increase of the prematurity rate in Qatar. Other reasons could be some abnormalities existing in the mother’s uterus, especially in the cervix, diabetes, hypertension or other chronic diseases, a history of prematurity, an infection related to the urinary tract and/or affecting the amniotic membrane, excessive amniotic fluid, abnormalities related to the placenta’s position in the womb, some congenital malformations of the baby while in the womb, and some cases of a mis-match between the baby and mother’s blood groups.
“The earlier a baby is born, the more severe his or her health problems are likely to be. Many premature babies require special care and spend weeks or months hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Some of those who survive may face lifelong problems such as intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, breathing and respiratory problems, visual problems including retinopathy of prematurity, hearing loss, and feeding and digestive problems,” Dr Eldakrouri said.
Dr Huda Saleh, Obstetrician/Gynaecologist at Women’s Hospital said: “Premature labour is a very serious complication of pregnancy as it strikes quickly and silently in many pregnant women. Unfortunately, many women do not recognise the signs of premature labour.”
She noted that the early detection of premature labour can help prevent premature birth and possibly enable the affected woman to carry her pregnancy to term, giving her baby a better chance of survival. According to Dr Saleh, warning signs of preterm labour could include contractions, changes in vaginal discharge, pelvic pressure, menstrual-like cramps, and low, dull backache.
She explained that there are precautions a woman can take to improve her health as well as lower the risk of having a premature baby. These include stopping smoking, alcohol or drugs, medical checkups before getting pregnant, prenatal care, meeting with a health care provider about controlling diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, a healthy diet, prenatal vitamins, and breastfeeding.
The Peninsula
