Do premature babies live healthier lives than Doctors expect?
May 8, 2000 -- While medical advances have dramatically raised the survival rate for premature babies and lowered their risks of developing serious handicaps, many pediatricians and obstetricians may not be knowledgeable about the current statistics, a new study suggests. And researchers are concerned that this could mean they aren't treating these babies as aggressively as they should.
Premature births occur in 6% to 10% of all pregnancies, and prematurity is the most common cause of sickness and death among newborn babies. If they survive, these babies are at risk for serious handicaps such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and developmental delay.
A survey by researchers from the University of Alabama found that obstetricians and pediatricians underestimated premature infants' odds of survival and overestimated their chances of developing a serious handicap. For example, the researchers say, the actual survival rate for a baby delivered at 28 weeks is 84 percent, but the pediatricians who were surveyed put the rate at 68 percent, while the obstetricians estimated 58 percent.
"It?s difficult to say whether or not these misconceptions have affected care," study investigator James Haywood, MD, tells WebMD. "From our data, we can see that obstetricians tend to refer women to centers that have intensive-care nurseries, even if they have misconceptions about the baby?s outcome." Haywood is a neonatologist and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham.
Problems may occur in a hospital without a neonatologist (a pediatrician who specializes in newborn babies), he says: "A pediatrician or family doctor may be the one who will counsel a parent with a pessimistic outcome expectation." While the researchers don?t have nationwide data, says Haywood, local data from Alabama shows that when women in preterm labor or their premature babies are not referred to a medical center with appropriate facilities, the death rate is higher.
Steven Morse, MD, and colleagues from the University of Alabama at Birmingham sent out more than 1,850 questionnaires to randomly selected general practice obstetricians and pediatricians.
"Since most babies are born in centers without a neonatologist, pediatricians are going to be called upon to make decisions, whether they attend a delivery or counsel a woman in labor," Haywood says. "We wanted to survey the people who would most likely be faced with making these decisions."
Premature Babies Do Better than Many Doctors Believe
May 8, 2000 -- While medical advances have dramatically raised the survival rate for premature babies and lowered their risks of developing serious handicaps, many pediatricians and obstetricians may not be knowledgeable about the current statistics, a new study suggests. And researchers are concerned that this could mean they aren't treating these babies as aggressively as they should.
Premature births occur in 6% to 10% of all pregnancies, and prematurity is the most common cause of sickness and death among newborn babies. If they survive, these babies are at risk for serious handicaps such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and developmental delay.
A survey by researchers from the University of Alabama found that obstetricians and pediatricians underestimated premature infants' odds of survival and overestimated their chances of developing a serious handicap. For example, the researchers say, the actual survival rate for a baby delivered at 28 weeks is 84 percent, but the pediatricians who were surveyed put the rate at 68 percent, while the obstetricians estimated 58 percent.
"It?s difficult to say whether or not these misconceptions have affected care," study investigator James Haywood, MD, tells WebMD. "From our data, we can see that obstetricians tend to refer women to centers that have intensive-care nurseries, even if they have misconceptions about the baby?s outcome." Haywood is a neonatologist and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham.
Problems may occur in a hospital without a neonatologist (a pediatrician who specializes in newborn babies), he says: "A pediatrician or family doctor may be the one who will counsel a parent with a pessimistic outcome expectation." While the researchers don?t have nationwide data, says Haywood, local data from Alabama shows that when women in preterm labor or their premature babies are not referred to a medical center with appropriate facilities, the death rate is higher.
Steven Morse, MD, and colleagues from the University of Alabama at Birmingham sent out more than 1,850 questionnaires to randomly selected general practice obstetricians and pediatricians.
"Since most babies are born in centers without a neonatologist, pediatricians are going to be called upon to make decisions, whether they attend a delivery or counsel a woman in labor," Haywood says. "We wanted to survey the people who would most likely be faced with making these decisions."
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