PUBLIC HEALTH, NURSING AND MEDICAL SOCIAL WORK

Abstract

IN THE summary of the report of the Expert Committee on Prematurity of the World Health Organization, published in this column in February 1951, Dr. Ethel Dunham indicated the concern of the Expert Committee in regard to uniformity of information on the incidence and mortality of prematurity. The need for uniformity is particularly urgent in a field where there are so many intrinsic variable factors. It has been shown time and again that the ability of a premature infant to survive, under the best of care, is closely correlated with the birth weight, which in itself reflects the stage of maturity. In turn, the stage of maturity at a given weight is affected by sex, race, and whether the child is a single or one of a multiple birth. Uniformly, at a particular stage of maturity, male infants are larger than female, single births are larger than multiple births and, in the United States, white babies are larger than Negro babies. These considerations underline the danger of misinterpretation of so-called over-all rates for the incidence of prematurity and for the mortality of premature infants. For example, at any given weight, Negro premature infants are probably more mature and consequently have a better chance of surviving.