Every life matters

November 17 is World Prematurity Day. Each year this day is devoted to raising awareness of preterm birth and the concerns of premature babies and their families. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 15 million babies are born preterm around the world each year.

According to the March of Dimes, the co-founder of the World Prematurity Day, the complications of preterm birth outranked all other causes as the world's number one killer of young children. They says that more than a million die as a result.

WHO says, more than 60% of preterm births occur in Africa and South Asia, but preterm birth is a global problem. In the lower-income countries, on average, 12% of babies are born too early compared with 9% in higher-income countries. Bangladesh is among the top ten countries in the world with the greatest number of preterm births.

What is prematurity?

Prematurity is defined as babies born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy (more than 3 weeks before the "due date") are completed. A premature birth means that a baby hasn't had the usual amount of time to develop in the womb before needing to adapt to life outside the womb.

Signs and symptoms

The earlier a baby is born, the higher its risk of brain damage, blindness, hearing loss, cerebral palsy and developmental delays.

At birth, the premature infant may show the signs that include troubled breathing, low birth weight, inability to maintain a constant body temperature, lanugo (excess hair of the baby), less activity than normal, problems feeding due to underdeveloped sucking, yellow skin (jaundice) etc.

Premature infants are often born with life-threatening conditions. Some of these problems can be resolved through proper neonatal intensive care. Others can result in long-term disability or illness.

Recommendations

Premature birth should be avoided if possible. Getting good antenatal care reduces chances of a premature birth. Other important habits include:

* Seeing the doctor as soon as pregnancy has been confirmed

* Continue to get regular antenatal care until the baby is born

* Get specialised, high-risk pregnancy care, if needed

* Be in the best possible health during pregnancy

* Adequate nutrition during pregnancy is foremost

* Try to get the weight to as normal as possible

* Making sure of up-to-date vaccinations before pregnancy

* Do not smoke or drink alcohol

More than three quarters of preterm babies could be saved through better access to quality care and medicines for both mother and baby. We have the knowledge, expertise, tools and the technology. It is now time for us to line up our actions and efforts locally and globally to save every newborn, because every life matters no matter how big, or small.