Oral

Maternal and child health programs often focus most of their time, energies, and resources on addressing immediate problem areas, such as infant mortality, premature births, or low birth weight. While it is well-known that infants born low birth weight or premature are at increased risk of dying in the first year, much less is known about the long-term consequences of these conditions. Recent research has begun to examine such issues as long-term survival, next generation birth outcomes, or chronic diseases in adulthood. The latter remains a controversial issue as some have postulated that a significant portion of heart disease develops from fetal origins. A focus on this area takes on more urgency as the rates for both low birth weight and preterm birth have continued to climb, despite public health efforts to reduce them. This special session will focus on providing the latest findings on the late childhood, adolescent, and adult consequences of being born too early or too soon. The audience will then be able to leave the session with a broader understanding of the need to reduce the incidence of preterm birth and low birth weight.

Session Objectives: 1. The audience participant will gain knowledge about the long-term consequences of low birth weight or preterm birth. 2. The audience participant will gain knowledge about longitudinal studies. 3. The audience participant will be able to gain a better understanding of how this might be applied to their work.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)