When I was pregnant I had false labor, a lot of women do. But it was thought that even if I had gone into actual labor my baby and I would have been fine, because I was 37 weeks pregnant--37 weeks is considered "full-term." Today, that idea may change.
A new study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology journal reads that babies born during week 37 and 38 of gestation are twice as likely to die during their first year than a baby born during the 39 or 40 week of gestation. Not anything a mother wants to hear.
The researchers analyzed the data of 46.3 million live births, using the National Center for Health Statistics database, from 1995 to 2006. The good news they found, generally, infant mortality has decreased for early-term and full-term births; however, they did also find babies born in the 37 or 38 week are 2.6 more likely to die pre- or post-birth for Hispanic and white babies, and 2.9 times more likely for black babies.
The abstract of the study can be found here.
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