Contents:
- Medical Video: Causes Behind Premature Births
- Mothers who give birth to premature babies are at risk of experiencing preterm birth in subsequent pregnancies
- What can be done to prevent premature birth in high-risk mothers?
Medical Video: Causes Behind Premature Births
Some think that mothers who have given birth to a premature baby will experience premature birth again in the next pregnancy. Yes, it's true that premature birth can be triggered by a history of premature delivery during a previous pregnancy.
Then how do mothers who have given birth to premature babies and want to have more children? Is it certain that babies born in later pregnancies will be born prematurely too? Can it not be prevented?
Mothers who give birth to premature babies are at risk of experiencing preterm birth in subsequent pregnancies
Premature birth is the biggest risk factor that can cause a mother to have a premature baby in the next pregnancy. This risk will continue to increase when a mother has experienced more than one preterm birth. In a study it was reported that the risk of premature delivery increased by 15% if the mother had one premature baby.
Then, the risk of returning increases by 40% if the mother has two premature babies. Whereas if there are three premature babies owned, then the risk of preterm delivery in the next delivery increases to 70%.
However, all these risks only occur in mothers who have had a history of spontaneous preterm labor, not an induced or intentional result of giving birth to a premature baby.
What can be done to prevent premature birth in high-risk mothers?
Don't despair first if you have a history of premature birth. Although previous preterm birth is the highest risk factor, it is not impossible for you to have a healthy and normal baby in your next pregnancy.
These are things you can do to reduce the risk of preterm birth in your next pregnancy:
- Pregnancy distance must be considered. The next pregnancy you plan, it's better to have a distance of 18 months after a premature birth that occurred before. The closer the distance of a second pregnancy after a premature birth will only increase the risk for you to have a premature baby again.
- Avoid smoking habits. Smoking makes the risk of premature birth higher, so stop smoking if you want your baby to be born normally.
- Be careful of infectious diseases that may occur during pregnancy. This infection can increase the risk of preterm birth. If you experience an infectious disease during pregnancy, you should immediately go to the doctor to be treated quickly.
- Avoid the yo-yo diet. A yo-yo diet is an unhealthy diet because this diet instead of reducing your weight, instead makes your weight scale increase several times. Maybe at first you want to lose weight after the birth of the baby. But the diet you do is not healthy and only makes your body more hungry. When you finish your diet, your weight will decrease, but your starving body will respond to eating a very large portion or you can say 'revenge'. So, your body weight actually increases due to 'revenge' that is done by your body.
- Control various other health conditions. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and kidney disease can also cause your baby to be born prematurely. If indeed you plan to get pregnant again and have a history of the disease, then you should discuss this with your doctor.
