Hospitals in the U.S. that followed quality-improvement programs were successful in reducing pre-mature deliveries, a new research said.
Pre-mature babies are at a risk of developing health problems later in life.
Published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, the study surveyed hospitals in California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas. Hospitals in these states have as much as 38 percent of all births in the country.
"This quality-improvement program demonstrates that we can create a change in medical culture to prevent unneeded early deliveries and give many more babies a healthy start in life," study lead author, Dr Bryan Oshiro, of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, in Loma Linda, Calif., said in a news release.
"Reducing unnecessary early deliveries to less than 5 percent in these hospitals means more babies stayed in the womb longer, which is so important for their growth and development," Dr Edward McCabe, medical director of the March of Dimes said.
He said that the study witnessed a decline in the proportion of babies born at 37 and 38 weeks (early-term birth) and a corresponding increase in the 39-to-41-week range (full-term birth. "Additional studies, perhaps over a longer period of time, could clarify whether such quality-improvement programs can also bring down a hospital's overall preterm birth rate."
Toolkits that were designed for changes in pre-mature delivery practices were used by these hospitals. March of Dimes, the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative; and the California Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Program at the California Department of Public Health developed this toolkit.
March of Dimes claimed that the end weeks of pregnancy are extremely important from the baby's health point of view. Vital organs such as brain and lungs are still developing in these weeks.
