November 17 is World Prematurity Day; it’s a day dedicated to reducing rates of premature birth and improving outcomes for preterm infants and their families. As a lead-up to the day, we’ll be posting articles here about prematurity and what people around the world are doing to help.
For most of us, we don’t think much about prematurity until we either have a preterm baby ourselves or someone close to us does. I know I hadn’t ever really thought about prematurity before my sister had my nephew five weeks early. I then got a crash course in micropreemie-dom when my own daughter (pictured above) arrived fifteen weeks early. I’ve learned many things since then; here are some interesting facts I’d like to share with you.
1) 7.6 percent of all babies in Canada are born premature.
2) Premature birth is the number one cause of neonatal mortality in Canada, accounting for up to 85% of perinatal deaths.
3) Worldwide, 15 million of the 135 million babies born in 2010 were premature, and of those, 1.1 million died, many from highly preventable causes.
4) Although many risk factors associated with premature births have been identified, nearly 40 percent of these births have no known cause.
5) Half of all neurological disabilities in children are related to premature birth.
6) The earliest preemie to survive was born at 21 weeks, 6 days gestation. The smallest preemie to survive was born weighing 258 grams.
7) Famous preemies include Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein, Anna Pavlova, Mark Twain, Sir Winston Churchill, Victor Hugo, Napoleon Bonaparte, Isaac Newton and Stevie Wonder.
8) Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is when blood vessels develop abnormally in the retina of the eye in a preterm infant. Stevie Wonder’s vision loss was caused by ROP. Today, because of better ways of administering oxygen to preterm infants, total vision loss due to ROP is rare.
9) A mom who delivers early will make milk that’s specially designed to nourish her premature baby, with extra minerals, fat, and protein. Breast milk also helps protect premature babies from infections, which pose the biggest danger to infants in the NICU.
10) The impact of premature birth does not end when babies leave the NICU. Many premature babies face lifelong issues related to their early start. Even babies who come just a few weeks early can experience developmental delays.
Obviously there is so much more to know than can be contained in a simple list of facts. If you’d like to find out more about World Prematurity Day, join the WPD group on Facebook, visit the March of Dimes websiteor check out the European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants. You can learn more about the NICU at Sunnybrook by visiting our website.
Here at Sunnybrook, we’ll be putting on an informational display on November 15 and 16, and hosting an open house for graduate families on November 17. We also encourage you to wear purple on November 17, and if you are on Twitter or Facebook, to share your thoughts and stories about prematurity with your friends. Together we can draw the world’s attention to prematurity, and together we can make a difference!
