Early Delivery And The Long-Term Effects On The Child

Perhaps it is all about inflammation. The cause of premature delivery is unclear – it is signaled by the baby who is in peril or the mother whose body thinks it is delivery time or a cross-talk or lack of communication of both? Is inflammation the root cause and does it follow the fetus, now child into life? An article by Tarui and colleagues (Am. J. of Ob. Gyn. Nov 2017, p 588) began to explore the correlation between early delivery and the long-term effects on the child. It is known that prematurity is associated with high rates of metabolic and endocrine issues (diabetes and obesity, thyroid disease and hyperlipidemia).

Studying over 225 thousand deliveries, of which almost 25% were preterm. Within this 25%, obesity and diabetes were more common. Differences between the term group and pre-term group began as early as 5 years old and were amplified as these two groups approached young adulthood.

Much remains to be defined. It is uncertain if the issue stems from the cause of the early delivery or if the endocrine system was not allowed to mature properly and early delivery simply amplified the results of lack of endocrine maturity.

It is clearly demonstrated that the safest modicum for term delivery is a singleton pregnancy.  Yet, we have another reason to recommend elective single embryo transfer in IVF cycle with appropriate candidacy. If you have more questions, please contact us. We are here for you!