By commemorating Premature Day, people are expected to be aware of the premature baby delivery and the risks.

World’s Premature Day: Risks behind premature delivery

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Business & Industry
Medical and Health
Nov 16, 2019
2218
Since 2011, 17 November is set to be the World’s Premature Day which will fall tomorrow. By commemorating Premature Day, people are expected to be aware of the premature baby delivery and the risks.

Obstetrician, gynecologist, and fetomaternal consultant at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM), Ali Sungkar, stated that Indonesia was listed on the top 10 countries with the most premature delivery cases in the world. In the ranking, Indonesia sat in fifth place, bested by China, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

In the “Bicara Gizi with Danone” event in Jakarta, Ali tabulated that annually, Indonesia recorded around 779,000 premature babies, and quoting from Emery Preemie website in January 2016, 25,900 of the number did not reach five years old.

Furthermore, the doctor also quoted two Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) reports from 2013 and 2018 that show high prematurity rates in Indonesia. In the 2013 Riskesdas, prematurity and low birth weight (LBW) incidents mounted up to 10.2 percent. It got worse in the 2018 Riskesdas by more than 19 percent to 29.5 percent.

Ali also emphasized that more cost required for the treatment of premature babies. In the research done by Ali Sungkar in 2010, the treatment cost could amount to more than Rp175 million, or Rp10 million per baby.

There are certain factors of prematurity such as infection (30 - 50 percent), twin births (10 - 30 percent), premature water breaking (5 - 40 percent), preeclampsia (12 percent), antepartum hemorrhage or vaginal bleeding at 24 weeks gestation (6 - 9 percent) and Intrauterine growth restriction (2 - 4 percent).

Preventing prematurity, Ali warned soon-to-be mothers to avoid smoking, and mothers with a history of miscarriage and premature labor; vaginal discharge, dental or periodontal infections, pregnancies over the age of 35 years or under 17 years, bodyweight less than 50 kilograms, workloads of standing for 40 hours per week, and uterine abnormalities.

Emphasizing the warning for mothers with vaginal discharge, Ali suggested avoiding panty liner since it will change the vaginal condition from acidic to alkaline.

Source: https://bit.ly/2XifYss

Medical , Health , Gestation , Motherhood , Obstetrics , Gynecology , Prematurity , Prevention