Could high prevalence of prematurity be a consequence of motherhood not being the top job held by society in high esteem? A modern paradox.
December 5 is the eve of St. Nicholas Day, the patron Saint of many people, cities and countries – including the largest one [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas#Deeds_and_miracles_attributed_to_Saint_Nicholas ]. St. Nicholas is remembered and celebrated in similar ways in some countries, rewarding well-behaved children but not the misbehaving ones… Which is why St. Nicholas, known as Svaty Mikulas, visits the children at home, in certain parts of Central Europe, in the evening along with an Angel and a Devil (Cert). The Saint asks the parents about the kids’ conduct…
Josef Lada – Mikulas doma
I share with you a depiction of the tradition drawn by Josef Lada in the troubled 1930s, an idyllic tradition of an industrial people, which they keep to this day…
Besides numerous miracles, this most popular of Saints was and is reputed for gift-giving (hence the commercialized Santa Claus transformation morphing St. Nicholas with a Western or Northern European Father Christmas later on in the month of December).
There are numerous legends about Saint Nicholas’ miracles and his deeds of help. Perhaps the most famous one is about the three daughters of an impoverished man who could not afford a proper dowry for them, dowry being an ancient habit, the original purpose of which “was to provide ‘seed money’ or property for the establishment of a new household” – and we are now talking about the 300s CE [Christian Era].
The saint Bishop of Myrna saved the girls from the fate of slavery and prostitution by secretly dropping “three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the man’s house”, which gift made the young girls “eligible” again. It is also said that he dropped the gift down the chimney where stockings were hanging “over the embers to dry, and that the bag of gold fell into the stocking”. That’s beside the point because we are not discussing Santa of Christmas, but rather we are remembering St. Nicolas of December 6.
Jan_Steen_Het_Sint_Nicolaasfeest, The Feast of St. Nicholas
In those times many, many centuries ago, the chief purpose of young women’s life was motherhood, naturally within a marriage, hence the said dowry habit. In our times, many things have changed, including, unfortunately, young women’s attitude towards motherhood. Well, not just young women’s attitude…
Motherhood must be held in high esteem to reverse the trend reflected by an outcry in tweeter-sphere that’s a part of life nowadays: “I never felt marginalized as a woman until I became a mother”. Now this is very sad. Sad for society since the opposite should be the case.
Motherhood is the most important “job” in the world, and this is not some cute old-fashioned thought. Women bear enormous responsibility for the health of the nation, of humankind. Society should pamper them. Meaning: Society should be organized based on the recognition of Mother Nature’s design, which design – with the optimal years for motherhood in the early twenties – does not go away only because nowadays we can do all kinds of things – including octuplet pregnancies at grandmotherly age.
One consequence of the referenced changes is the currently common delays in getting married, and especially delays in bringing children into the world, starting a family. In other words, the unfortunate consequence is motherhood in later years of life than Nature intended. And then there are other consequences. Among them, prematurity.
Lou Beach, Preggers
@DrJenGunter not too long ago tweeted on prematurity, the most common cause of infant morbidity and mortality in the U.S.: “I just wrote a book on prematurity. Personal and professional experience”. See The Preemie Primer: A Complete Guide for Parents of Premature Babies–from Birth through the Toddler Years and Beyond [Paperback], Jennifer Gunter MD (Author) at http://www.amazon.com/Preemie-Primer-Complete-Premature-Babies/dp/0738213934/
Here is a citation [from http://www.preemieprimer.com/ ]:
My son Victor has dystonic cerebral palsy. He weighed 843 g at birth and had a grade 2 IVH. The bleed resolved in the NICU without hydrocephalus.
He is seven years old now. He is very stiff and is so shaky on a bicycle that we have given up trying for now. He couldn’t stand on one foot until he was 5. It took a very long time for him to get the hang of swimming and at the age of seven he is by no means a fish, but I feel if he were to fall in a pool he could keep his head above water. His digestive tract is very affected, but we have figured out ways to minimize these issues. It took countless hours of OT and thousands of hours of him practicing, but his writing is beautiful and God know where he gets his spelling ability from. He hopscotches like a pro. He is reading a grade level ahead. All without a CT scan or an MRI.
Based on his exam and his problem areas I am sure his cerebellum is a mess. In fact, I wonder if I would have pushed him so hard if I had seen a brain scan before we left the NICU?
“What we know about prematurity” is reviewed by the March of Dimes Campaign at http://www.marchofdimes.com/Mission/prematurity_indepth.html .
“Today more than 1,400 babies in the United States (1 in 8 [= 12.5%]) will be born prematurely. Many will be too small and too sick to go home. Instead, they face weeks or even months in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU). These babies face an increased risk of serious medical complications and death; however, most, eventually, will go home. … In fact, the rate of premature birth increased by more than 20 percent between 1990 and 2006. … The rate fell to 12.3 percent in 2008 from 12.7 in 2007, a small but statistically significant decrease.
Why women deliver early? In nearly 40 percent of premature births, the cause is unknown. However, researchers have made some progress in learning the causes of prematurity. Studies suggest that there may be four main routes leading to spontaneous premature labor.”
Štyrský, Marriage
Do refer to the referenced article for more about the four main causes:
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Infections and/or inflammation.
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Maternal or fetal stress.
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Bleeding.
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Stretching.
And then there is this: These four routes are not the only things to consider. Other factors, such as multiple pregnancy, inductions and cesarean sections, can also play a role. (Mostly man-made factors, we note. I say “mostly” because some multiple pregnancies happen also to women who did not get pregnant through the Artificial Reproductive Technologies… )
Prematurity is bad for infant, parents, and public health. We at bioZhena propose to contribute to the reduction of its prevalence, by making the FOLLICULOGENESIS IN VIVO™ [FIV™] technology available for routine use by women and their physicians. As a particular example, in relation to the referenced other factors, we propose to make it possible to compute the Expected Date of Delivery (EDD) based on the expectant mothers’ folliculogenesis data.
The idea is to get away from the gestation calculation popularized about 200 years ago in 1812 by a Dr. Naegele, for whom the 40 weeks or 10 lunar months rule of obstetrics is named. This rule of 280-day gestation assumes that the mother ovulates on day 14 of a 28 day menstrual cycle, which the readers of bioZhena’s Weblog know that it is an unrealistic assumption.
America in 1812, the time of Dr. Naegele’s 200 years of fame
Napoleon & carabiniers_in_front_of_Moscow_1812
Allegedly*, it was Dr. Hermanni Boerhaave, in his time a highly respected academic physician, botanist and chemist, who read in the Bible that pregnancy should last 10 lunar months. He is said to have formulated – in the 1700s – a way of calculating the expected date of delivery (EDD).
Thus, expectant mothers get EDD today based on the myth of the baroque-era Boerhaave … Yet, already Aristotle taught that “the human fetus is expelled … at any period of pregnancy …; moreover, when the birth takes place in the eighth month, it is possible for the infant to live.”
The gist of the bioZhena hypothesis is this: The EDD can be projected quite well from ultrasonic measurements of the unborn baby’s head and body size, but for a more convenient, affordable and consequently more practical solution, we propose to seek a correlation between the Ovulona FIV™ attributes such as cycle length and the EDD/EDC. Importantly, this will be done by using the date of insemination, which will be easily – electronically – recorded by the user of the Ovulona™ as an integral part of the routine.
Trying to be fair or considerate to the women’s healthcare classics, I report an obgyn.net paper at http://www.obgyn.net/fetal-monitoring/fetal-monitoring.asp?page=cotm/9807/cotm_9807 . It is titled “’Back to the Future’ for Hermaani Boerhaave, or, ‘A rational way to generate ultrasound scan charts for estimating the date of delivery’” by Dr David J R Hutchon, Consultant Obstetrician, Memorial Hospital, Darlington, England. This is about the ultrasound approach, and he comments that: QUOTE “the approach mimics, in modern terms, the method originally formulated by Boerhaave. … If Boerhaave had had an ultrasound scanner, his paper might have read something like, ‘It is proved by numerous observations that 99 out of 100 births occur 22 weeks (at 18 weeks gestation) after the biparietal diameter of the fetus is 40mm’ (Fig 1).”
Besides his Figure 1, I also share Mr Hutchon’s (a British medical doctor, when Consultant, becomes Mr again) Fig. 2, “Regression analysis showing line fit plot. The number of days between scan and delivery has been converted to conventional gestation by subtracting from 280. The lower and upper dotted lines represent delivery at 42 and 37 weeks respectively.” QUOTE UNQUOTE.
Gestation age vs. crown rump length by DJR Hutchon
Gestation vs. biparietal diameter by Hutchon
Biparietal diameter is the (outer – inner) measurement of the fetal skull echo. Crown-rump length (CRL) is the measurement of the length of human embryos and fetuses from the top of the head (crown) to the bottom of the buttocks (rump). In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization. These are the Wikipedia reported definitions. The two weeks between 9 and 11 assume the “regular” length of the menstrual cycle, which is a theoretical assumption that could very likely be incorrect in practice, in the given woman and in the given last cycle of hers (because regularity is a myth, too). Well, look at the scatter in the data points, it’s telling.
In addition to the convenience, affordability and practicality of the bioZhena approach, do not overlook the feature that the data will be personal to the given woman, and the measurement will not refer to LMP. It will not rely on the woman’s recollection of her last menstrual period (instead, it will refer to the last electronically recorded intercourse); and it will not subject the baby to unnecessary ultrasound radiation.
For more on the topic, try under Gestation in the Alphabet of bioZhena https://biozhena.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/aaee-the-alphabet-of-biozhena.pdf (or https://biozhena.wordpress.com/2007/11/28/the-alphabet-of-biozhena/ ). See also the discussion under Parturition, where we express the expectation that parturition management will be revolutionized by the introduction of the Ovulona into obstetric and gynecological practice.
Anderle – Pasek 06
Summary Definitions [quoted from http://www.righthealth.com/topic/Fetal_Age ]:
Gestation is the period of time between conception and birth, during which the fetus grows and develops inside the mother’s womb.
Gestational age is the time measured from the first day of the woman’s last menstrual cycle [LMP] to the current date. It is measured in weeks. A normal pregnancy can range from 38 to 42 weeks.
Infants born before 37 weeks are considered premature. Infants born after 42 weeks are considered postmature. (Note: 42 x 7 = 294).
Especially with the challenged menstrual cycles that are particularly irregular in length, referencing the LMP in the reckoning can easily introduce a significant error. Perhaps that is why the above summary definition of normalcy is 38 to 42 weeks but prematurity is “before 37 weeks”? (A week here, a week there…) Read also the earlier post https://biozhena.wordpress.com/2008/01/11/about-the-edd-andor-edc-issue-and-a-request-for-input-from-readers/ .
Tomáš Císarovský – Kukátko
280 may have been in the Bible, but it ain’t necessarily right. We’ll see whether 266 is, and whether it is a worldwide constant, which is doubtful. If for no other reason, global constancy is doubtful because it was reported from India that “Mean gestational age at the onset of labour for women native to the area of study was 272 days (standard deviation 9 days). Pregnancies beyond a duration of 280 days showed significantly increased perinatal morbidity.” (Referencing the above righthealth.com definitions, we see 294 – 280 = 14. A week here, a couple of weeks there…)
Well, 272 – 14 = 258. Not 266, and that number is of interest because per Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence, ”a gestation period of thirty-eight weeks (266 days) is calculated for women who are pregnant by a procedure such as in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination that allows them to know their exact date of conception” (article Gestation Period and Gestational Age).
And then you have the oprah.com article, which asks, “Will the labor start naturally on time, or will the baby be so late that induction or Caesarean section is necessary?”: http://www.oprah.com/relationships/Is-Pregnancy-Really-40-Weeks-Long . While debating the validity of the word “necessary” is not the point here, the author there refers to data from studies that concluded greater than 280 days due dates (288 days in one study), of which one study was in Sweden.
A hypothesis can be that hot climates may lead to lower gestation periods than cold climates. This would be a hypothesis based on two data points and a common sense for “the babies taking longer when it’s cold outside”… We’ll want to compare, say, data from Inuits and Lapps on the one hand with data from equatorial Africa and Philippines and/or Indonesia on the other. Logically, we’ll control for factors known or suspected as being involved, such as those four main causes listed above – and age, parity and other factors already explored by people such as Mittendorf in the 1980s.
Kupka – Creation de l homme
The idea is that routine use of the Ovulona will provide for an equivalent of the above-referenced 38-week (266 days) calculation, which is available to the women receiving IVF or artificial insemination. The data will be personal and the geography of the birth will be noted (as well as ethnicity), with data sooner or later coming from all corners of the world.
Capturing and working with the fertilization date should, by and of itself, be an improvement over the current way of EDD/EDC assessment. An improvement over the paradox of modern obstetrics and gynecology handling the most important aspect of reproduction by means of some biblical myth, and having become more and more interventionist probably at least in part because of that myth. Reference a recent tweet: Maternity Care In America Rife With Systematic Failures l Being #Pregnant http://su.pr/2j91wY “most people don’t know normal birth”. This refers to the medical staff.
That these thoughts are sensible, and that the chief problem is the LMP, is supported by ultrasound studies such as “Gestational age and induction of labour for prolonged pregnancy” by Jason Gardosi, Tracey Vanner, and Andy Francis (Perinatal Research, Audit and Monitoring, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK) in British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, July 1997, Vol. 104, pp. 792-797 – [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1471-0528.1997.tb12022.x/pdf].
Citing from this study of more than 24.5 thousand pregnancies: “Menstrual dates [LMP data] systematically overestimated gestational age at term when compared with scan dates… suggesting that most pregnancies which are considered ‘prolonged’ according to menstrual dates are in fact mis-dated. The median gestational age for induced labours was 286 days by last menstrual period but only 280 days by scan, and most (71.5%) inductions done post-term (> 294 days) according to menstrual dates were not post-term if scan dates alone are used to calculate the gestational age.“
This study was a retrospective analysis of computer files of 24,675 pregnancies delivered in a teaching hospital between 1988 and 1995.
Here is their graphical summary of distribution of deliveries as a function of gestational ages by ultrasound scan dates.
Deliveries vs. gestational ages by ultrasound scan dates
Their most explicit statement in support of our conviction and plan is this citation: “Even if the date of the last menstrual period is recalled with accuracy, delay in ovulation can result in over-estimation of the true gestational age, which results in an apparent prolongation of pregnancy.” The authors also cite a 1972 paper in American Journal of Obstetric and Gynecology in support of the just cited statement.
The Gardosi et al. paper concluded: Regardless of obstetric and maternal views of the advantages and disadvantages of routine induction policies, our results suggest that most post-date inductions are unwarranted on the basis of gestational age. The incidence of prolonged pregnancies can be considerably reduced by establishing dates by ultrasound alone.
Needless to say, a similar graph for deliveries in India would show the spontaneous labor peak earlier (272 days by one study in tropical Manipal) while a Scandinavian graph would be shifted in the opposite direction; both were referenced above.
I’ll be darned if the introduction of the Ovulona into the gestation arena should not bring some order and peace (as opposed to the mess and anxieties of today). As I wrote in the conclusion of the related January 11, 2008 article: It is perfectly realistic a vision that, in future, an expectant mother’s EDD and/or EDC will be assessed based on her folliculogenesis (FIV™) data.
The EDD/EDC will be computed automatically and provided by her own Ovulona Smart Sensor™. And no Saint Nicholas miraculous assistance will be required by the future users – although we will not write here the same for bioZhena.
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* I write “allegedly” because I spent many an hour looking for evidence of truth in this allegation, only to find the Dutch man an impressive medico-scientific mind and an impressive likeable character – but no evidence of the biblical dogma ascribed to him. As I write this note, I am going once more through the tedious but interesting Dr. Boerhaave’s “Academical lectures on the theory of physic” of AD 1744. The man’s fame and authority was such that “a Chinese mandarin, seeking advice, addressed his letter to ‘Boerhaave – Europe’, and it was delivered”. See http://books.google.com/books?id=QTUVAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Hermanni+Boerhaave+1744&source=bl&ots=NCeCN4gLdd&sig=SoUA_WS6iSkh2A8WpBX7S4o54Uw&hl=en&ei=ebP-TP2WBIX2tgO12-mvCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false
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