ABU DHABI // The growing number of UAE couples opting for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is leading to increased risk of premature births, health professionals warn.
Doctors are calling for a register of premature babies – those born before 37 weeks into the pregnancy – in an attempt to better understand the causes of such births and prevent subsequent complications.
“Such a registry would help us determine the size of the problem and develop strategies to deal with the situation,” said Dr Leanne Bricker, the head of foetal medicine at Corniche Hospital in Abu Dhabi.
“Many people are opting for in vitro fertilisation, but these methods increase the chances of multiple pregnancies, which, in turn, may lead to risk of pre-term birth.
“Each day that the child is in its mother’s womb is important. As there is good neo-natal care available, these babies survive but they are at risk of many problems.”
Globally, there are about 15 million premature births a year – or more than one in 10 – and about a million children die because of complications from premature births.
Statistics for the UAE are not available, hence the need for a database.
Doctors also urge the regulation of IVF procedures and the risks of multiple births.
According to Dr Bricker, providers of IVF services in Britain have to show that they have low rates of multiple pregnancies.
“In the UAE, these are not regulated. Many people approach us, saying that they want to have twins or triplets. And many simply opt for IVF,” she said.
Women should consult experts and be made aware about the risks involved in IVF despite its increasing global popularity, said Dr Bricker.
“Monitoring centres and reducing the number of multiple pregnancies are a few preventive measures to control pre-term births,” she said.
“The large number of babies at the neo-natal unit is also a burden on the paediatric department.”
Indeed, more needs to be learnt about the causes of premature births, according to Dr Soha Said, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Corniche Hospital.
“It is unclear whether it results from a combination of several causes or the independent effect of each cause,” she said. “In the UAE, we don’t have proper incidence of pre-term labour, as there is no pre-term birth registry to give us a true picture of its prevalence.”
She said the causal factors linked to premature births included the mother’s medical conditions, genetic influence, environmental exposure, infertility treatments, as well as behavioural and socioeconomic considerations.
Dr Said will discuss premature births at a obstetrics and gynaecology conference during an Arab health recruitment and training fair next month.
The fair will run from October 18 to 20 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
Various studies have linked prematurely born babies with problems later in life.
One such study, published in the Journal of Paediatrics in 2008, found increased incidence of cerebral palsy, developmental delay and mental retardation, even for those born at 34 to 36 weeks’ gestation.
arizvi2@thenational.ae
