Alarming increase in premature birth rate

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, the cause of infant death is mostly due to premature birth (accounting for 25%).

Many children only 500 - 600 grams

According to statistics at Tu Du Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City), the rate of premature births tends to increase over the years. In 2023, the hospital received and treated about 6,000 premature babies, an increase of 40% compared to 2022 (about 4,600 babies). Of which, more than 3,000 babies were born prematurely under 34 weeks. The baby with the lightest weight was only from 500 to 600 grams.

Premature birth not only causes many complications for newborns but also poses an economic burden. In addition, premature babies also face serious illnesses such as respiratory distress syndrome, necrotizing enterocolitis, sepsis, hypoxic encephalopathy, vision and hearing problems, etc.

Dr. Nguyen Diem Ha - Deputy Head of the Neonatal Department, Tu Du Hospital - said that each year in Vietnam, there are about 100,000 to 115,000 premature babies born. Premature birth is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years old.

Mothers who are too young are also at risk.

Many studies have shown that the rate of premature birth is related to many different causes. These include the mother having previous medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart failure, kidney failure, lupus, urinary tract infections, genital tract infections, etc.

"Currently, many adolescents have sex early, are not equipped with knowledge about sex, and have unwanted pregnancies, leading to premature birth. In addition, for those over 35 years old, most of them are infertile and have to use assisted reproductive interventions, which will have a high risk of premature birth.

"The pregnant woman's lifestyle habits such as using many stimulants, drinking alcohol, and using drugs increase the risk of premature birth. Notably, natural multiple pregnancies or multiple pregnancies with assisted reproduction lead to a high risk of premature birth," said Dr. Ha.

According to Dr. Ha, premature babies need to follow treatment procedures for premature babies such as active resuscitation at birth, respiratory and circulatory emergency care within the first hour, kangaroo method...

Multiple pregnancies increase the risk of premature birth by 6 times

Doctor Ho Manh Tuong - General Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility - added that the rate of premature birth in the world and in Vietnam tends to increase.

There are many reasons for the increasing trend of premature birth. It is worth mentioning that the increasing age of women in pregnancy and women having children later in life are also factors that increase the risk of premature birth.

Along with late pregnancy, women also have many gynecological or systemic diseases during pregnancy, increasing the risk of premature birth, such as uterine fibroids, endometriosis, diabetes, high blood pressure...

In addition, some other common factors such as overweight, obesity, stress, environmental pollution, infection... also lead to an increased risk of premature birth.

"When a woman is pregnant with multiple pregnancies (more than one fetus), the risk of premature birth increases more than 6 times compared to a single pregnancy. In multiple pregnancies, more than 60% of cases will be premature, compared to more than 10% in women carrying one fetus. This is one of the important causes of increased rates of premature birth, illness and death in children," said Dr. Tuong.

Premature birth accounts for 19% of disease patterns

According to data reported by the Ministry of Health, the rate of premature and low birth weight babies accounts for about 19% in the neonatal morbidity model. The neonatal mortality rate accounts for 60% in children under 5 years old and 71% of children under 1 year old die.

The main causes of infant mortality are premature birth, low birth weight, asphyxia, birth trauma, malformations, and infections. Of these, premature birth and low birth weight account for 25%.

These causes can be prevented, such as pregnant women need to have regular prenatal check-ups (at least 4 times according to regulations of the Ministry of Health), detect risks of fetal abnormalities, have a reasonable diet, work and exercise appropriately...