A Shorter Gestation Period?
At the age of 36 my younger daughter is pregnant for the umpteenth time, hoping to complete her first successful term. She is now 19 weeks pregnant carrying a baby boy. She is healthy, trim and fit but to date unable to carry a baby for the full term.
My only other child has only one child. Will I be blessed with a second grandchild at this late stage?
All her problems led me to read up a little bit about it and I came across some very interesting facts.
While the normal gestation period for a human baby is 40 weeks, the average term for childbirth in the US has dropped to less than 39 weeks over the last 20 years.
This is due to a sharp increase in babies born between 34 and 36 weeks. Better fetal monitoring has led to a much larger number of medically assisted births thus reducing stillborn babies and delivery related deaths and complications.
Dr Nancy Green said that this causes reason for concern as babies born even a few weeks early often need more medical care, and they are at greater risk for respiratory and feeding difficulties, as well as jaundice, reduced brain development, and problems regulating temperature. She would like to see more medically uncomplicated births go to term.
She went on to say that more and more women who give birth are overweight or obese. These women have a much higher rate of complications like diabetes and hypertension, which can lead to earlier births.
Researchers are calling for better studies of outcomes among late preterm babies.
Dr David Savitz, who has long studied preterm delivery trends, says it makes sense that better fetal monitoring has led to earlier deliveries, especially since the risks involved are not readily evident at the clinical level.
I feel that if a major problem can being prevented, an early delivery is absolutely justified but both the physician and the patient should be well aware of the risks involved.
Or could this be just another case of physicians hiding the risks, hoping for the best trying to make name and/or money?
Have a wonderful day
Comments (35)
All I can do is pray and hope she brings this little mite to full term. She sounds trim and healthy and I do hope it happens this time. She will make a wonderful mother !
It is funny that the rest of my family is rich with children but I have so few descendants.
May your daughter, succeed in having this child. May the blessing, be upon her!....
Yes, we are all hoping for full termed healthy baby this time.
Thank you. I'm sure she will be ok this time.
Yes, and then she and her husband, who is also South African, lives in Australia with no family to support them. I do wish they would come back.
With all these well wishes, I'm sure she would be ok this time.
Last year my plans were to go to Oz after visiting Barbados next month, making it a round trip. Then they decided to come to SA later this year and the leg going to Oz was taken off the agenda.
Unfortunately the whole lot fell through as I am having health problems and receive medical treatment at the present, and will not be able to travel this year. I guess their planned visit will also fall through for the time being.
We forget sometime having fun on blogs that we have a life outside cs and maybe cs is a sweet relieve for short time.
you too, my dear friend..
This is life and we must make what we can of it. Things will work out ok in the end.
I'm sure it will go according to plan this time around.
Cannot fault you on that.
Thank you, it is appreciated.
Thank you for your good wishes and I am pleased that it is well with your grandson.
I wish the best for your daughter and the newborn!
Well, 21 weeks to go if all goes well as we hope.
I pray all goes well with your daughter! In the meantime, take care of your health so that you can enjoy that new grandchild!
Thanks for the well wishes and my health is being taken care of. Things should start improving shortly.
My only grandchild so far is sixteen already. would be fun to have a baby around again. pity they are so far away.
My mistake, do pardon me.
I hope everything is good with you...health problem gets dealt with...and your daughter delivers a healthy baby...all the best!!
I'm sure all will work out ok.
I have reconciled myself that I will only have one grandchild a long time ago. This will be an added blessing.
Thank you very much. They can only benefit from it.