Saturday, March 14, 2009

Waiting Till 40 Weeks of Pregnancy... So Much Better



The Wall Street Journal published an excellent article back in December, stating the benefits of carrying a pregnancy to term and the risks of inductions that are "just a few weeks early."

"Conventional wisdom has long held that inducing labor or having a Caesarean section a bit early posed little risk, since after 34 weeks gestation, all the baby has to do was grow.

But new research shows that those last weeks of pregnancy are more important than once thought for brain, lung and liver development. And there may be lasting consequences for babies born at 34 to 36 weeks, now called 'late preterm.' "

Check out the rest of the article here at the Wall Street Journal

3 comments:

  1. What a great article. Thanks for the heads up :o)

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  2. ugggg. Some of the sickest babies come out at 34-37 weeks. This is NOT a term pregnancy. 34-37 weekers have issues. Not small issues. Ask any neonatologist and they will give you the run down of bad things that happen to this group.

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  3. My babies come 42+ weeks. For my second we were at a full 43 weeks and he was only 7.5 lbs. Imagine if I had let someone induce labor at 38 weeks???!!!! (forget about 36!!!!)

    No signs of post datism and a perfectly healthy placenta.

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