To discourage planned early deliveries, hospitals are banning moms from scheduling births before 39 weeks without a medical …
March of Dimes
Family MattersPregnancy
The Cost of Premature Birth: For One Family, More than $2 Million
A new report released Wednesday finds that 15 million babies worldwide are born prematurely each year. For any hope of prevention, preterm birth needs to raise its PR profile.
Family MattersParenting
Incredibly, World’s Tiniest Preterm Babies Are Doing Just Fine
The Starbucks peppermint latte I’m sipping weighs nearly 3 oz. more than Rumaisa Rahman did at birth. The tiny twin, born in 2004 at Loyola University Medical Center weighing 9.2 oz., holds the record of world’s smallest baby. …
Family MattersPregnancy
Calling Attention to Preterm Birth on World Prematurity Day, Nov. 17
What do artificial intelligence, mathematics and engineering have to do with premature birth? More than you might think, according to the new multidisciplinary preterm research center at Stanford University.
Family MattersInfancy
When It Comes to Preventing Preterm Birth, the U.S. Gets a ‘C’
Preterm birth, which is the leading cause of newborn death in the U.S., has declined in most states and dropped more than 10% in a few, according to an annual “premature-birth report card” released by the March of Dimes on Tuesday.
Family MattersPregnancy
Patience, Mom: More Hospitals Say No to Scheduled Delivery Before 39 Weeks
With a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old at home, Jaclyn McClymonds had at least two good reasons — Joel and Jayla — to want to schedule the delivery of her third child. A charter-school teacher, she was also nervous about juggling …
Family MattersPregnancy
A New Study Details the Effects of Smoking in Pregnancy
Pretty much everyone knows that smoking is bad for you. It’s particularly ill-advised for pregnant women, although data show one in five U.S. moms-to-be still cop to the habit. Lest smokers need another nudge to quit, the first …
Family MattersPregnancy
Why Delaying Delivery by Just Two Weeks Boosts Baby’s Survival
What if you could make the difference between life and death for your baby, simply by being patient? A new study published in the June issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology shows that mortality rates are halved by waiting until at …
Family MattersPregnancy
A Blood Test to Predict Premature Birth Could Hit the Market Next Year
One in 10 mothers give birth prematurely, a biological mystery that often comes with little warning and a sideshow of dangerous health repercussions. Doctors historically have had little luck predicting which women will deliver …
Maker of Prematurity Drug Slashes Price in Response to Critics
The saga of the prematurity-prevention drug Makena and the outrage over its pricing continues: on Friday, the maker of the drug, a subsidiary of KV Pharmaceutical, announced it would reduce its price 55%, from $1,500 to $690 per dose.
Can Patients Get Around the Exorbitant New Cost of a Pregnancy Drug?
The cost of a drug used to prevent premature birth in high-risk mothers will rise from around $10 per dose to $1,500, now that the FDA has approved a branded version of the medication.
Family MattersPregnancy
Prolonging Pregnancy: New Drug Helps Prevent Premature Birth
Lauren Fleming was born 3½ months early and weighed just a smidge over 2 lbs. When her mother, Nikki Fleming, got pregnant again, her doctor administered weekly progesterone injections. Fleming’s next two children, Erin and …
