Preterm birthrate highest in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has the highest preterm birthrate in the world. In Bangladesh, 16 out of every 100 children are born before completing 37 weeks of pregnancy.

This information comes from the World Health Organization (WHO). Premature babies are born with low birth weight, they easily fall sick and the death risk is higher among them.  

After analysing the data from 2010 to 2020, WHO has come to the conclusion that there hasn’t been much progress in case of reducing preterm birth rate in Bangladesh within the decade.

Premature babies aren’t born at this rate in India, Pakistan or any other neighbouring countries. Even the poorer countries of Africa, where the healthcare system isn’t that strong, have lower preterm birth rates than Bangladesh.

The article stated that preterm birth is the main cause of neonatal death. If a child is born prematurely, it has to bear the harmful effects of this in the long run. The development rate is slower among these children. Plus, it has adverse socio-economic impact as well.

WHO says that preterm birth is linked to maternal health. Teenage pregnancy, the mother being infected with a disease, suffering from malnourishment or seizure during pregnancy can lead to preterm birth.

Analysis of the statistics from 2010 and 2020 as mentioned in the Lancet shows that there hasn’t been any significant improvement in Bangladesh’s situation in case of reducing preterm birth. The estimated number of premature babies in 2010 was 520,200 and it was 16.4 per cent of the total childbirth.

The estimated number of such children born a decade later in 2020 was 488,600. This was 16.2 per cent of the total children born that year. Researchers say that the preterm birthrate is decreasingg by 1 per cent a year.

A press release published from the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland Friday stated that one in ten children in the world are born prematurely. Premature or preterm indicates that these babies are born before completing 37 whole weeks in the mother's womb.

Researchers from the WHO, UNICEF as well as UK’s the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have written a detailed article on this. The article has been published in the online edition of public health journal, Lancet. These data have also been published on the WHO website.

The Lancet article has published the estimated number of children born prematurely in 2020 on national, regional and global levels. It tried to understand the pattern or trend of this sort of child birth from 2010 to 2020. Besides, it also analysed the reasons for this.

The birthrate of such children in Bangladesh is higher than that of the average global rate of 10 per cent. Preterm birthrate in India is 13 per cent, in Pakistan it is 14.4 per cent, in Nepal 11.2 per cent, in Maldives 9.8 per cent and for Sri Lanka the rate is 7.8 per cent.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and the Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP) have long been implementing quite a few projects and programmes for the development of maternal and neonatal health.

In this regard, DGFP deputy director (maternal and child health services) Farid Uddin Ahmad told Prothom Alo that several ministries are working to prevent child marriage, national nutrition programme is being implemented to improve the nutrition situation and there are special initiatives for the treatment of mothers with a risky pregnancy.

There are arrangements to detect diabetes or any other infection of the mother. And if detected, there are measures for remedy. The special medical care (essential newborn care, kangaroo mother care and SCANU services) for premature babies is being expanded throughout the country, he added.

WHO stated in the press release that a total of 13.4 million (1.34 crore) children had been born prematurely in 2020. Reviewing the statistics from 2010 and 2020 it was found that the preterm birthrate has decreased at the annual rate of 0.14 per cent.

In fact, the preterm birth rate is quite high in some of the high-income countries as well. For example, the rate is 10 per cent in the US.

Commenting on the situation, director for the department of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and ageing at the WHO, Anshu Banerjee said that the figures hint that investments have to be increased to ensure care for premature babies and their families.

Plus, the issue of prevention has to be stressed as well as quality healthcare has to be ensured during the pre-pregnancy and pregnancy periods, he added.