Nearly half a million babies are born prematurely in the United States each year, a rate that has grown by 27 percent since 1981.

A growing number of women are giving birth prematurely because they postpone childbearing into their 30s or later or become pregnant with more than one fetus through infertility treatments.

Despite increased prenatal care, improved nutrition and drug advancements aimed at stopping pre-term births, preterm birth now surpasses birth defects as the leading cause of death in the first month of life and is a major cause of learning and physical disabilities.

Drugs used to end premature labor may cause other problems, as they are associated with a number of side effects, and have only been shown to delay birth by one or two days in trials.

Further evidence suggests that it may not be wise to stop premature labor, as fetuses under stress in utero may start labor themselves.

One in eight babies is born prematurely, defined as before 37 weeks of gestation, in the United States, a rate that is twice that in most European countries. Spontaneous labor accounts for 50 percent of preterm births, 30 percent occur after the spontaneous rupture of the membranes, and 20 percent involve medically induced deliveries to protect the health of the mother or the infant.

The hormone progesterone has been shown to help prevent premature labor and delivery, however for women already in premature labor, no treatment has been able to delay birth for more than two days.

Doctors say that better methods are needed to determine which women will deliver preterm, as half of preterm births occur in women with no known risk factors.

Drugs called tocolytics, which include magnesium sulfate, terbutaline, the asthma drug Brethine, ritodrine, ethanol, nifedipine and indomethacin, are routinely used to try to stop premature labor.

However, tocolytics have not been proven effective in preventing premature births and repeated courses of the drugs may increase the risk of fetal injury or death, according to several studies.

Some factors believed to cause prematurity are infection, multiple pregnancies, a hemorrhage into the wall of the uterus that results in the premature separation of the placenta and stress experienced by the woman and the fetus.

New York Times April 8, 2003

Jane Brody wrote an excellent summary documenting the enormous impact that premature births are in our society.

It is most unfortunate that she has provided the reader with a pessimistic conclusion on a solution to this problem as she states: "Despite advances in reproductive medicine, the old problem of premature birth has remained essentially unsolved."

Ms. Brody has failed to do her homework on this important topic.

Last year the British Medical Journal (February 23, 2002;324:447-450) published a study that provided a major inexpensive non-toxic answer for this devastating problem that has been virtually ignored by the medical world as it is not high tech.

The study of nearly 9,000 pregnant women in Denmark found that those who said they currently ate no fish were around three times more likely than those who ate the most to have a premature delivery.

The United States has a higher percentage of physicians, including those trained to treat premature newborns, than any other country. The United States has about six neonatologists for every 10,000 live births, compared with 3.7 in Australia, 3.3 in Canada and 2.7 in the UK. Similarly, the United States has more intensive care beds than other nations (Pediatrics June 2002;109:1036-1043).

Directing more health care dollars to prenatal care and reproductive services has not been the answer for this problem. The alternative solution is obvious, American women are highly deficient in the omega-3 fats that are prevalent in fish. Incorporating larger amounts of these essential fats would go a long way toward reducing the pain and suffering that result from this highly preventable problem.

However, as last week's major JAMA study (April 2, 2003;289:1667-1674) shows, the major source of mercury in Americans is fish. Nearly all fish are contaminated with mercury as a result of over half of the U.S. electrical production coming from burning coal that deposits in the oceans and bioaccumulates in fish.

Fortunately, there are many sources of fish oil available that have been molecularly distilled and are free of mercury and PCBs and can provide the important omega-3 fats that are the key to preventing so much unnecessary grief and suffering in this country.

Dr. Mercola
Medical Director, Optimal Wellness Center
Schaumburg, IL

Note: I have researched many brands of fish oil and can say with all confidence that Carlson’s fish oil and cod liver oil is one of the most superior available.