Abortion raises premature birth risk and more about it....?

Premature birth (also known as preterm birth) is the birth of a baby before the standard period of pregnancy is completed. In most systems of human pregnancy, prematurity is considered to occur when the baby is born sooner than 37 weeks after the beginning of the last menstrual period (LMP). The opposite condition, postmature birth, is defined as birth more than 42 weeks after the LMP. The standard length of a human gestation is 266 days. However, for convenience most timing is based on the LMP, with conception being assumed to occur approximately 14 days after the LMP, making a standard term pregnancy 280 days or 40 weeks. Premature or preterm birth is defined medically as childbirth occurring earlier than 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. Approximately 12 percent of babies in the United States or 1 in 8 are born prematurely each year. London: Pregnant and planning abortion? Just give a second thought because it might triple the risk of your subsequent baby being born premature or underweight which is strongly linked to deaths in the first week of life. A team of international researchers has carried out a study and found that women who abort their child are likely to give birth to premature or underweight babies in future, 'The Times' reported today. The same holds true for women who have a miscarriage, according to the researchers. "Infections or adhesions (due to surgery) in the womb slow the growth of subsequent babies," lead researcher Tilahun Adera of the Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States was quoted as saying. The team came to the conclusion after analysing a data of more than 45,000 births. The records were linked to details of the mother's medical history, but did not distinguish between abortion and miscarriage. The data related to 1959-66, when abortion was far less common and women would have been reluctant to admit to having had one. The researchers found that a single abortion or miscarriage almost tripled the risk of low birthweight; two increased the risk about fivefold; and three increased the risk ninefold. A miscarriage or abortion increased the risk of a subsequent baby being premature by 70 per cent, two doubled the risk and three tripled it -- the results are published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure and heavy drinking were also taken into consideration. "Though the study is the largest done in the US, it has limits, the most salient being the data didn't distinguish between abortion and miscarriage”. For more details on Abortion raises premature birth risk visit www.halfvalue.com and www.halfvalue.co.uk For more information on books visit

Posted by: Adnan