 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Janis Biermann, MS, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, 1275 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605, 914-997-4434, jbiermann@marchofdimes.com
Preterm birth rates have increased 27% since 1981, despite the continued efforts in identifying women at risk and in developing prevention strategies. Highlights of past and present research initiatives will be overviewed. In 1985, Dr. Emile Paprenick convened a meeting to examine social causes and public health-based randomized trials aimed at providing social and other supports to pregnant women. However, risk-scoring schemes tested in large unselected and in high-risk obstetric populations did not provide accurate and efficient means for classifying pregnant women according to their preterm delivery risk. Tocolytic therapy as a way of halting preterm labor was not confirmed in larger clinical trials. Monitoring uterine activity and access to health care provided mixed results. Preterm prevention programs designed to provide nursing care with or without monitoring of uterine activity also failed to demonstrate improved pregnancy outcomes. Programs providing social support had mixed outcomes and nutritional intervention trials were not clearly effective. Failure of recent intervention programs to reduce preterm births underlie the complex mutifactual etiology of preterm labor.
The March of Dimes initiated its national campaign in January, 2003. There are two goals: to increase awareness of the problem of prematurity and to decrease the rate of preterm births. With its Scientific Advisory Committee, the March of Dimes has established a research agenda for support of national interdisciplinary research to determine more causes of preterm labor and subsequent preterm birth. An update on the March of Dimes Perinatal Epidemiological Research Initiative will be provided.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.