Comments on: The U.S.’s Preterm Birth Rate Is Worse than 130 Other Countries (Ouch!)

By: sewpickle

sewpickle — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:54:47 +0000

Most clinics don’t go by are “period due date” after the first ultrasound anymore. I don’t find this article insulting at all.

U.S. isn’t the front runner in health care period.

Ecbeight-
You know what would give you the best due date? Charting your cycles, then you would know the exact date of conception with a 1 or 2 day error. Don’t rely on Dr. to tell you what is going on with your body, you spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week with yourself, the average dr. spends 15 mins tops with you! I know I ovualted on Feb 7 so I calculated by due date to be Oct 30, my ultrasound said Oct 31.

By: SHERRY

SHERRY — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:30:46 +0000

Well, also I think another contributing factor is that we work most of our pregnancy and are under a lot of stress, especially low-income mothers that have to work on their feet all day and take care of themselves and don’t have really good health insurance. And our maternity leave is nothing, nothing compared to Canada or other European countries which get at least 6 months, which they can start using prior to giving birth. Our health care system sucks. I’m almost full term with my 2nd daughter and have to get a c-section. So its crazy to say a significant population of women having preterm babies are having c-sections. I think its presumptuous and is why we have such horrible statistics. Start looking at this in a different way might change our sad numbers.

By: Ana Cristina Potoret

Ana Cristina Potoret — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:07:05 +0000

Please watch Born in the USA on Netflix.

By: ecbeight

ecbeight — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:37:41 +0000

I find this article extremely insulting. I have no affiliation with the health care industry, mind you, but to suggest that inductions and c-sections play a part in preterm labor & birth is side stepping the main issue. The majority of women receiving inductions do so once they are fullterm and around their due date. Not when they are, oh 27 weeks along! And most c-sections occur in the delivery room when labor has complications. My brother & sister & I were all born c-section and within 2 weeks (either past or before) our due dates. My sister was actually right on her due date. Both of my babies were born c-section and neither of them were born early, my daughter being a whopping 10 lbs. My sister in law whom has had 3 children was induced with all 3, after their due dates. My siblings & I have all been very healthy and we have (except my little sister) given birth to very healthy babies who are now very healthy toddlers.

A good direction to look in would be in the dilemma between ultrasound dating and “period determined due dates”. Both of my pregnancies were considered farther along, as much as 2 weeks in one case, than the “period determined due date” suggested. Doctors prefer to rely on period determined due dates than the age of the baby determined by an ultrasound. Which is very strange when you consider that the ultrasound would be an accurate prediction.

Also, I think that there has not been enough attention given to the amount of toxic chemicals in our cleaning products, our homes (mattresses and furniture and carpets giving off toxic gases), our body products that contain chemicals which research and studies have proven cause preterm labor (parabens), and even the food we eat. Society has come a long way by ensuring that all women are given prenatal medical care and prenatal vitamins and that smoking is banned from public buildings, which many European countries have yet to do.