Preemies on rise in Utah

Stephanie Moulton's pregnancy was routine until a week ago, when she developed toxemia. The baby wasn't due for three months, so her husband, Travis, didn't expect to be spending this week by an incubator in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital, trying to catch a glimpse of his unbelievably tiny daughter among the technology that's helping her survive.

The Moultons have joined the ranks of families who have a preemie, born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. The increase in the incidence of premature birth in Utah is more than three times that of the rest of the nation, at 36.8 percent from 1991 to 2001.

One in 11 babies in Utah is premature, many born with no warning and half to mothers with no known risk of premature delivery. In Utah, 4,465 babies were premature in 2001.

Prematurity is the leading cause of newborn death. It's also a leading cause of chronic long-term health problems and developmental disabilities. Prematurity accounts for nearly half of all infant hospitalization costs.

It's even higher in terms of human cost, said Dr. Bryan Oshiro of Intermountain Health Care Maternal and Fetal Medicine.

Premature babies have respiratory problems and are "incredibly fragile." They can have bleeding in the brain, metabolic disorders and neurological problems that can be permanent. Even premature children who appear to have no deficit early on may be left behind developmentally well into their school years, he said.

About half the babies born at 23 weeks survive. At 24 weeks, the number jumps to 75 percent and at 25 weeks it jumps again to 90 percent. Born after 28 weeks, about half the preemies catch up with their full-term peers over time, while 20 to 30 percent have mild to moderate neuro-developmental disabilities and 20 to 30 percent have severe disabilities. Prematurity can affect vision, hearing, motor skills, intelligence or a combination, said Dr. Jerald King, neonatologist at University Hospital.

Adriana Moulton, born three days ago, weighed 2 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 14 inches long. Her mom's toxemia, including very high blood pressure, was so serious that doctors at St. Mark's Hospital gave Stephanie a shot of steroids to begin toughening up the baby's lungs, then had Stephanie airlifted to the U. Forty-eight hours and one more steroid shot later, doctors decided they had to deliver the baby, who was only two-thirds of the way through the normal gestation period.