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Babies
born extremely early have much better survival odds now than
in years past, but boys seem to be lagging behind girls, a
new study finds. Australian researchers found that of more
than 2,500 infants born very preterm in the 28th week of
pregnancy or earlier. Boys had a somewhat lower survival
rate and were more likely to have long-term neurological
problems like blindness, deafness or cerebral palsy. Of
1,394 baby boys, 23 percent died in the hospital, compared
with 19 percent of girls. The extreme preemie boys also had
a higher rate of moderate to severe "functional disability"
by the time they were three years old. Those problems
including blindness, deafness, cerebral palsy and mental
retardation affected nearly 20 percent of boys, versus 12
percent of girls. The findings underscore that while "much
progress" has been made in helping the tiniest preemies
survive and thrive, those infants still face considerable
risks, researchers noted. Pregnancy normally lasts about 40
weeks. Babies born before the 37th week are considered
‘preterm’, with those born before the 34th week being ‘early
preterm’. It's well known that the earlier an infant comes
into the world, the greater its risks of death or long-term
health problems. It's not clear, though, why very early
birth seems more dangerous for boys than girls. The Y
chromosome, which determines male sex, also influences
certain health factors. It's known, for instance, that more
male fetuses than female are lost to miscarriage. Problems
in the cardiovascular system, like blood pressure
dysfunction, are more common the earlier an infant is born.
If boys are less able to handle those problems, it might
help explain why the gender gaps were seen in the very
earliest births, but those gaps closed at week 27.
Researcher said the most important thing for women is to go
into pregnancy as healthy as possible, at a healthy weight
and not smoking. Get good prenatal care and if a woman
notices changes that could signal preterm labor, she should
tell her doctor right away. Treatment with (prenatal)
steroids 48 hours prior to delivery and magnesium sulphate
four hours prior to delivery may reduce mortality and
long-term neurological risk, the author said. The findings
are based on records from 2,549 infants admitted to 10
neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Australia between
1998 and 2004. |