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Pre-term births can happen to any expectant mother. Doctors says right now, they do not know all of the causes of pre-term birth, but there are some risk factors that can increase the chance of one.
Jade Elliott sat down with Sean Esplin, MD, Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist, Intermountain Healthcare, to discuss pre-term birth, the causes and how technology is helping doctors learn more about it.
Common causes or risk factors that increase the chance of pre-term birth:
- Infection is most common. There are different types of infections and it depends on how the body responds to that infection.
- Smoking or substance abuse during pregnancy
- Short time between pregnancies
- Expecting multiples, twins, triplets, etc. This is becoming more common. Identical twins who share a placenta are especially risky. 50 percent of twins come early.
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding
- Abnormal shape of the uterus or a cervix that is short or weak.
- Maternal and fetal stress
What kinds of symptoms of preterm labor should a woman call her doctor about?
- Call your obstetrician or other health care professional right away if you notice any of these signs or symptoms:
- Change in type of vaginal discharge (watery, mucus, or bloody)
- Increase in amount of discharge
- Pelvic or lower abdominal pressure
- Constant low, dull backache
- Mild abdominal cramps, with or without diarrhea
- Regular or frequent contractions or uterine tightening, often painless
- Ruptured membranes (your water breaks with a gush or a trickle of fluid)
For more information on symptoms and risk factors, click here.
Why is it so difficult to prevent pre-term birth?
Of every 100 women, 10 percent will deliver pre-term. Doctors don’t know which 10 percent. When they have a heads up it’s easier to prevent. There’s a 30-40 percent recurrence rate if a woman has previously had a pre-term birth. In most cases doctors have no prior knowledge that a woman will have pre-term labor or deliver prematurely. Sometimes they can do surgery to stitch the cervix together if it’s opened prematurely. At 20 weeks gestation, it’s standard practice to look at the cervix in an ultrasound. Sometimes doctors insert a pessary device that helps holds the cervix closed. Sometimes doctors do everything we can, but we can’t stop the labor.
This is the Instagram account mentioned on this episode, @imamom2be.
The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.