Baptist Health’s labor and delivery units in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Arkadelphia, Stuttgart, and Hot Spring County have successfully reduced the number of medically unnecessary early births, giving more babies a healthy start in life, said the March of Dimes.
Baptist Health became the first system to receive recognition for all five birthing hospitals by developing and implementing policies and procedures to reduce medically unnecessary (elective) inductions and Cesarean deliveries scheduled before 39 weeks of pregnancy.
“We’re proud of our expert team of physicians and nurses who recognized this problem in our community and worked hard to make sure our smallest patients come into this world as healthy as possible,” said Brenda Goodhart, Women’s Center system director for Baptist Health.
Worldwide, 15 million babies are born too soon each year, and more than one million of those infants die as a result of their early births. Babies who survive an early birth often face the risk of lifelong health challenges, such as breathing problems, cerebral palsy, and learning disabilities. Even babies born just a few weeks early have higher rates of hospitalization and illness than full-term infants. Recent research by the March of Dimes, the National Institutes of Health, and the U. S. Food and Drug Administration found that although the overall threat is small, the risk of death more than doubles for infants born at 37 weeks of pregnancy when compared to babies born at 40 weeks, for all races and ethnicities.
“Every week of pregnancy is critical to a baby’s health,” said Paul Jarris, MD, MPH, senior vice president and deputy medical director for the March of Dimes. “I commend Baptist Health for being a champion for babies with their quality improvement effort.”
Through Strong Start, a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the March of Dimes has been working to promote its Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait® campaign, which urges women and healthcare providers to avoid scheduling a medically unnecessary delivery before 39 weeks of pregnancy because important development of the brain, lungs, and other organs occur during the last few weeks.
The March of Dimes offers professional and consumer education materials about the importance of a full-term pregnancy. More information is available at marchofdimes.com/39weeks.