Nov 20, 2008 8:37 pm US/Eastern
Black Women More Likely To Deliver Pre-Term
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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Pregnant African-American women are two to three times more likely to deliver their babies pre-term than women of European descent.
CBS
Pregnant African-American women are two to three times more likely to deliver their babies pre-term than women of European descent.
Healthwatch reporter Kellye Lynn says newly published research is offering an explanation many doctors hadn't considered.
Two heads and two bodies are nestled inside Maneishia Linder's belly. The babies are due in May, but getting them here won't be easy.
"I was pregnant in 2005 and that ended in a miscarriage. And then, I got pregnant in 2007 and that was an ectopic pregnancy," said Linder.
Fortunately her third pregnancy produced Caleb, who arrived several weeks early.
"I was actually in the hospital for him for two-and-a-half months. I had a shortened cervix and I was dilating too early," said Linder.
While most healthy pregnancies last 38 to 42 weeks, African-American women are more than twice as likely to have their babies before the 37th week of pregnancy. An early delivery increases the risk of long-term health problems and fetal death.
"We may have one clue as to why women, black women are at higher risk of pre-term birth," said Dr. Robert Atlas, OBGYN Mercy Medical Center.
New research finds 12 percent of African-American women have a gene defect that reduces collagen, a protein needed to strengthen the sac in which the fetus grows.
"People who have a lack of this gene may have a decrease in the amount of collagen that's in their cervix because our cervix that holds the pregnancy in is made up of mainly collagen. So if you don't have enough collagen, we know that increases the risk of pre-term birth," said Dr. Atlas.
It's a finding that could someday help doctors identify high risk women early and improve the odds of a healthy, full-term birth.
In the meantime, Dr. Atlas says there's a lot pregnant women can do to reduce their risk of pre-term delivery--take vitamins, eat healthfully, exercise regularly, keep your weight down and if you smoke, quit.
Thirteen percent of babies in Maryland are born too early, which is higher than the national average.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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