The authors of today’s paper identify six priority areas for a more targeted prematurity research agenda:
- New epidemiologic studies focused on the risk of extremely preterm births to identify the factors that predispose women to very early labor and delivery;
- Genes and their interaction with the environment, that, in concert, lead to preterm birth;
- Racial and ethnic differences. While prematurity affects all socioeconomic groups, there are significant racial and ethnic disparities. For example, non-Hispanic African-Americans had the highest rate of premature babies at 17.8 percent in 2003, well above the national rate of 12.3 percent;
- The roles of infection and immune response to those infections;
- The effects of stress on the mother and fetus;
- Clinical trials to assess the impact of potential treatments, to whom, and when during the course of pregnancy to be most effective.
Such research could lead to improvements in clinical care, and also help educate women about how to avoid risks that lead to premature birth, the authors said.
In 2005, the March of Dimes awarded the first of its new national Prematurity Research Initiative (PRI) grants at six major research institutions nationwide.
As part of it’s comprehensive fight against prematurity, the March of Dimes also is supporting proposed federal legislation that would expand research on prematurity and give states more flexibility to design their Medicaid programs to offer health care coverage to low-income pregnant women and their children as a way to prevent premature birth. The bills are: The “Prevent Prematurity and Improve Child Health Act of 2005″ (S 710) and the Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers Who Deliver Infants Early (PREEMIE) Bill” (S 707).
“Research Agenda for Preterm Birth: Recommendation from the March of Dimes,” appears in the September issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, volume 193, number 3.
What Black Women Need To Know About Premature Birth was originally published on blackdoctor.org
