THE COSTS OF PREMATURE BIRTHS THE COSTS OF PREMATURE BIRTHS Caring for preemies' medical needs costs the world $26 billion a year. Premature babies are at risk for many serious problems, including: -Cerebral palsy -Blindness -Hearing loss -Learning disabilities Source: The March of Dimes More than 1 million babies die each year because they're born too soon, according to the first report to estimate the global burden of premature births. About 13 million babies a year — nearly 10% of all newborns — are born prematurely, after less than 37 weeks of the normal 40-week pregnancy, according to a report released Sunday by the March of Dimes The preterm birth rate in the USA is especially high: 12.7% of all babies are born early, according to the March of Dimes. That rate has increased 36% in the past 25 years, partly because of an increase in elective cesarean section, an increase in older mothers and the growing use of assisted reproduction, which increases the risk of twins, triples and higher-order multiple births, the report says. Most of the increase in the USA is in "late preterm" babies, born at 34 to 36 weeks of pregnancy, the report says. Some babies are at higher risk than others, the report says. In the USA, black babies are 1½ times as likely as whites to be premature — a major reason that black infant mortality is so much higher than that of whites, says Christopher Howson, vice president for global programs at the March of Dimes. Doctors can do far more to save preemies than they could only a generation ago, says Nicholas Fisk, director of the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research in Australia, who wasn't involved in the report. Yet doctors still have no reliable way to prevent preterm birth, Fisk says. At best, doctors can delay delivery by a day or two — just long enough to give women drugs to mature their babies' lungs. At 23 to 26 weeks of pregnancy, the odds of survival increase 2% to 3% with every day a baby remains in the womb, he says. Fisk says drug companies are reluctant to create drugs for acute preterm labor because of the high cost of research and relatively low potential for profit, given that women might take them only for a few days. Instead of focusing on acute preterm labor, Fisk says, researchers might help more women by identifying underlying problems, such as inflammation, that develop early in the pregnancy. For example, researchers have been studying the hormone progesterone, which might help women who are at high risk of early delivery because of a shortened cervix, Fisk says. Women would probably take progesterone for several weeks or months. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more