International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

New research has suggested a link between late pre-term births and a range of short-term morbidities, gynaecology experts have been told.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that these are often based around respiratory conditions and frequently require specialised care or long neonatal hospital stays.

The research set out to compare late pre-term births with full-term births and found 36.5 per cent of the 19,334 late term births assessed were admitted to neonatal intensive care units.

Out of these, 2,032 had respiratory compromise, compared to 1,874 among those who had experienced term births.

The researchers conducted: "In a contemporary cohort, late pre-term birth, compared with term delivery, was associated with increased risk of respiratory distress syndrome and other respiratory morbidity."

Recent research by Vanderbilt University in the US found that undergoing radiotherapy to the womb or ovaries in childhood could present fertility issues later in life, with the risk of stillbirth increasing.

Posted by Carla Mackenzie