Premature babies lucky enough to survive are left with lifelong health problems that could even affect their own children, a new study shows.

While the average pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, with babies born between 37 to 42 weeks considered full-term, the number of premature births has continued to rise over the last two decades. More than half a million U.S. children, or 12.5 percent, are born prematurely each year for reasons unknown to medical professionals, says the March of Dimes (MOD).

According to the MOD, it’s a dangerous trend with risks such as:

• newborn health complications
• mental retardation
• cerebral palsy
• lung and gastrointestinal problems
• vision and hearing loss
• death

And according to the recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), these problems, and many more, are likely to persist into adulthood, affecting adult premies’ education, reproduction, and more.

The study also was reported in a Time Magazine article.

More Dangerous Than It Sounds
Premie. The word just sounds as cute as the tiniest of baby clothes. And with help from the toy industry and the Cabbage Patch Kids ™, even children are led to believe that the word is nothing more than a very little baby in a sweet little incubator made of lettuce.

Real incubators, and other marvels of modern neonatal technology, have helped more and more premature babies survive into adulthood. But according to the Duke University scientists who analyzed birth-registry records for over 1 million Norwegians born between 1967 and 1988, the long-term data are starting to emerge.

Scary Statistics
The new JAMA study reports that premature babies retain the elevated risk of death into adolescence, with those born between 22 and 27 weeks of pregnancy twice as likely to die between the ages of six and twelve than babies born full-term.

What’s more, premature babies are less likely to graduate from high school and less likely to produce offspring of their own. Offspring that are produced are more likely to be born prematurely or stillborn, with higher death rates in their first year.

Researchers believe that being born early can have an effect on an individual’s biological functioning, but say that effects on fertility still need to be investigated.

What is currently known thanks to this study is that premature males are 30 percent less likely to have children while premature females are 19 percent less likely. And, the researchers note, the earlier a child is born in relation to a full-term pregnancy, the greater the chance of having less education in comparison to those born later.

Prevention Is Key
Researchers included an editorial with the JAMA report which may help ease fears for parents of pre-term children. In the editorial, they note that it is important to realize that many changes and advances have occurred in the medical industry, which has made it possible to save more premature children than when the study was being conducted.

Most premature children, they also note, go on to live full and happy lives with children of their own.

But nonetheless, the importance of focusing on the prevention of pre-term birth has now been demonstrated, say scientists involved in the study.

To learn about the March of Dimes’ March for Babies, read this recent baby gooroo post.