Wednesday, November 21, 2012

World Prematurity Day


Saturday was World Prematurity Day. The Huffington Post had an article about it here. "Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth" was released only a couple days before Poppy was born. Needless to say, Poppy was not counted in the report, but Rosemary definitely was. The long and short of it is that preterm birth does not have to equal a death sentence in developing countries. As the Huffington Post article author Carole Presern puts it, "Place of birth should never determine a child's right to life."

Time also released an article about World Prematurity Day that mentioned 5 ways to reduce preterm birth. Here they are:


  • Discouraging elective C-sections and labor inductions unless there’s a compelling medical reason
  • Reducing the number of embryos transferred during fertility treatment
  • Helping pregnant women give up smoking
  • Providing women with high-risk pregnancies with progesterone supplementation
  • Performing cervical cerclage, a minor surgical procedure, on pregnant women with short cervixes


  • Only one of those ways was pertinent to me. I did not schedule a c-section or induce labor, I did not undergo fertility treatments, I don't smoke, and my cervix was measured to be an acceptable length. All that leaves is the progesterone supplementation for high-risk pregnancies. Huh. My pregnancies were high risk. I was not given progesterone. Would it have helped? With Rosemary, probably not. I felt the effects of HELLP Syndrome very early on in her gestation, even though it wasn't diagnosed until the day she was born. Progesterone might have prevented my body from trying to push her out early, but the resulting toxicity from being pregnant would still remain, and she still would have had to come out early anyway. For Poppy, though, it might have made a difference. I did not feel sick throughout her gestation like I did with Rosemary, so HELLP Syndrome was not an issue the second time around. For whatever reason (maybe habit?), my body wanted Poppy out at the same time as her sister. The contractions started around 28 weeks. I was given bottles of Procardia to stave them off, but the medicine only just barely worked; I felt contractions every time I was due for another dose. If I ever got pregnant again I would ask the doctors for progesterone. It would be interesting to see if it made a difference. But we're not trying for any more kids. Happy with two. :-)


    In celebration of World Prematurity Day, I ordered a Letter from Santa from the Mercy Hospital NICU Parents. This organization is comprised of parents who used to have NICU babies at Mercy Hospital, and they now mentor and support current NICU parents. I love it! I had to drive 23 miles one way for about 40 days (both babies combined) to visit my daughters in the NICU, so I can say I would have loved to have gotten a gas card! Your donation helps new NICU parents get just that. Or a carseat! And support group meetings! Isn't it awesome? I can't wait for Rosemary to get her letter. I'm sure you can think of some children who would love to hear from Santa this holiday season. :-) Order by December 12th!



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