Preterm Birth Facts: A Review

Abstract

Preterm birth is the major complication in neonatal health care that cause death in newborns and also it is the second foremost cause of death in children. It is one of the important complications of neurological disability and impairment. Preterm babies are born before completion of 37 weeks of gestation, instead they born by 32 gestational week. This has several reasons; most preterm birth not only affects the newborns but also family members, to give care for preterm infants. This initiates how they spend several months in hospital and has increasing price for health services. It is estimated worldwide that 11.1% of all live births were born preterm in 2010 (14.9 million babies were born before 37 week of gestation), there is an increasing rate in almost countries with reasonable trend data with preterm. This review had discussed about the majority of factors behind the preterm birth in India. This review may help to prevent the preterm birth by early detection, appropriate intervention, screening for the risk, providing antenatal care, educating the teenage or adolescent pregnant women.