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Complications threaten more and more premature births in Germany
More premature births in Germany
Around nine percent of babies in this country start too early in life. This puts Germany ahead of countries such as Sweden or France, where the premature birth rate is six percent. Professor Ekkehard Schleußner, Director of the University Women's Hospital Jena, explained in the pharmacy magazine "Baby and Family" (4/2015) that the reasons for the higher premature birth rate in Germany are manifold: "Take the example of France. There, on average, women get more children, and in those with multiple pregnancies, the risk of premature birth decreases. "
Older mothers and artificial inseminations as causes In addition, expectant mothers are on average 31 years old and with increasing age premature births are more likely. Another reason is that there are more artificial inseminations and twin births in Germany, which also increases the likelihood that babies are born too early. Other risk factors include overweight or obesity and hypertension. Researchers around the world are also investigating other possible influences, such as poverty, stress, nutrition and pollution.
Danger for complications and consequential damages
Basically, the sooner a child is born, the higher the risk of complications and secondary complications. Last year, US scientists reported that they found in a study that more than one in six children under the age of five would die from the complications and consequences of premature birth. These are more than 3,000 children a day worldwide. The experts wrote that nearly 1.1 million of the estimated 6.3 million infants who died in 2013 were premature births. Thus, premature birth was the most common cause of death for children this year. (Ad)