Word: preterm
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...tied to the growing number of multiple births--twins, triplets or more--that result from infertility treatments. If you have one baby, your chance of delivering prematurely is just over 10%, according to Dr. Charles Lockwood at Yale University, and your chance of delivering what is called a very preterm baby (one born before 32 weeks) is less than 2%. But if you have twins, the most recent federal data show, your chance of preterm delivery jumps to 58%, with a 12% chance of very early delivery. With triplets, you have almost no chance of reaching full term...
Assisted reproduction isn't the only problem. Doctors have long known that smoking, uterine infection, high blood pressure and a prior history of preterm delivery also place an expectant mother at greater risk of delivering early. They're looking into the possibility that other factors, such as stress, diet (both before and after conception) and inflammation may also play a role. But they have something of a medical mystery on their hands. "Nearly half of preterm births are from unclear causes," says Dr. Nancy Green, medical director of the March of Dimes, which is in the early stages...
...birth-weight baby at full term more than triples if she has her teeth X-rayed while pregnant. This is not a good reason to avoid the dentist, however. Other studies have shown that women with periodontal disease have a three to five times greater risk of preterm childbirth than those with healthy teeth and gums...
...still hurt newborns? That's the question posed by a study that tracked 151 preterm babies for two weeks in an intensive-care unit. Each was subjected to an average of 14 painful procedures daily, including needle pricks, catheters inserted in veins and tubes stuck down the nose and throat, but only a third of babies got appropriate pain treatment...
...birth prematurely, having a baby with low birth weight or needing a caesarean section. This news comes from a large study--the first of its kind--published in Human Reproduction, of 56,000 women in Denmark. According to Dr. Olga Basso, the lead author, the chance of having a preterm baby was 7.4% for first-time mothers who took longer than a year to get pregnant--about 40% higher than normal...