A New Blood Test Might Have The Capability Of Predicting Whether An Expectant Mom Will Deliver Prematurely. While The Test Isn't Ready Yet -- It Misses Some Premature Births An Inaccurately Predicts Others - It's A Great Starting Point.
A new blood test might have the capability of predicting whether an expectant mom will deliver prematurely. While the test isn't ready yet -- it misses some premature births an inaccurately predicts others - it's a great starting point.
A new blood test might have the capability of predicting whether an expectant mom will deliver prematurely. While the test isn't ready yet -- it misses some premature births an inaccurately predicts others - it's a great starting point. While not common, premature births are prevalent:
- 10% of expectant moms deliver prematurely
- 30% of women who have previously delivered prematurely will do so again
- Increased complications at birth, including breathing problems or even death
- Long term complications: Mental retarding, learning disabilities, learning and behavioral problems, vision and hearing loss, cerebral palsy, lung problems (Source: March of Dimes)
For the study, researchers reviewed the blood work of 160 expectant moms: 80 of them delivered full term and 80 of them delivered prematurely. They tried to find signs in the blood that indicate what kind of birth the women would have. The researchers developed a screening method that looked for so-called peptide biomarkers in the blood that -- in tandem with several other proteins -- predicted 80 percent to 90 percent of the premature births at 28 weeks of gestation. The false positive rate -- referring to tests that wrongly indicated premature birth -- was 20 percentMore on prematurity
- March for Babies with the March of Dimes
- Progesterone could reduce preterm births by 45%
- Moms need help with grief after preterm birth
- March of Dimes reminds moms: Breast milk is good for preterm babies
(Source: Health Day)
