Post-term Pregnancies Risk Infant’s Life And Health

Infants born more than one week past their due dates have a higher risk of both impaired health and death, according to two new studies by authors from the University of California’s San Francisco and Berkeley campuses.

The studies compared more than 2.5 million normal-weight births from healthy pregnancies of 37 to 42 weeks gestation, the range that is considered to be full-term.

The two studies focused on different elements of the risk of progressing beyond 41 weeks of gestation, but held similar conclusions.

The first study, which followed 1.8 million normal births in California from 1999 to 2003, reported greater odds of infant death among those born at 41 and 42 weeks.

The second study examined 2.5 million low-risk births nationwide in 2003, and reported that the risk of cesarean deliveries and poor health outcomes for both mother and child increased at 40 weeks and beyond.

“Significant research has focused on the risks of premature deliveries, but until now, there have been no large-scale studies documenting the increased risk of delivering at 40 weeks or more,” said Aaron Caughey, MD, MPH, PhD, an associate professor of obstetrics.

“Combined, these two papers provide very compelling evidence of the importance of closely monitoring pregnancies beyond 40 weeks and possibly intervening to prevent complications to both mother and child.”

Read more at ScienceDaily