Every 2 seconds in the world a baby is born prematurely – report identifies biggest challenges for their survival
Retrieved on:
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Pregnancy, Food, Violence, Birth weight, Education, Born Too Soon, Stillbirth, Gestational age, Disability, Solution, Parent, Oxygen, Infection, COVID-19, Woman, Place of birth, Death, UN, Preterm birth, Water, Health, Adolescence, Growth, Heat, Climate change, Air pollution, Caregiver, Breast milk, Birth control, Dietary supplement, Pharmaceutical industry, Pig, Nursing
Globally, about one baby in 10 is born too soon – that’s around one baby
Key Points:
- Globally, about one baby in 10 is born too soon – that’s around one baby
every two seconds. - In the long term, babies born prematurely may face motor, neurosensory, cognitive and behavioural deficits.
- A decade ago in 2012, a global coalition of stakeholders launched Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth.
- The report made a case for global action to mitigate the problems of preterm birth.
- For example, one in 10 extremely preterm babies (born before 28 weeks or seven months) survive in low-income countries.
Key findings
- Worldwide, 61% of maternal deaths, 51% of stillbirths and 50% of newborn deaths occurred in countries that required UN humanitarian aid in 2023.
- Surviving newborns from conflict zones are particularly vulnerable to lifelong risks as a result of poor healthcare services.
- In 2020, 20% of newborn deaths were attributed to air pollution, mostly because of preterm birth.
- Global inflation rose from 4.7% in 2021 to 8.8% in 2022, creating a global cost of living health crisis.
Recommendations
- Its recommendations have crucial contextual relevance to Africa, where preterm birth is the leading cause of deaths in babies under a month old.
- Counting and accounting for preterm births Data availability and quality must improve.
- This can be done by counting every baby everywhere, including those stillborn, and accurately recording gestational age and birth weight.
- Countries also need emergency response plans to avoid service interruptions in times of crisis.