The Effects of Preterm Birth
Dannette Taylor
University of Phoenix

Preterm birth can be a devastating experience not only for the mother, but also for the child. This issue has plagued the United States and other countries for many years, and no concrete evidence have been found to tell us why preterm birth occurs. One in eight babies in the United States is born premature each year. The impact of social support on the psychological well-being, attitudes, and behavior of parents is rapidly becoming a major issue. It is becoming more and more difficult for mothers to cope with the long-term and short-term effects of premature birth. These parents’ attitude and behavior can have both a direct and indirect effect on the child's …show more content…

Therefore the final diagnosis was poor prenatal care and maternal cigarette use. Many mothers have not been able to cope with the illnesses brought on by preterm birth and have thus opted to give their children up for adoption. This presents a question of whether there should be more of an effort to provide preventative care to expecting mothers. Even if for preventative care was offered there is question about whether or not it would help with the psychological effects of the mother and child if premature birth occurred. I'm sure that with these preventative measures comes a positive and negative result in a child's development due to the parent attitude and behaviors. Everyone responds differently to environmental stresses and the adequacy of social resources available. Researchers have made it as far as to divide premature deliveries into subcategories which include preterm rupture of the membranes, preterm labor, and early delivery resulting from medical intervention. (Berkowitz, Blackmore-Prince, Lapinski, Savitz, 1998) from the subcategories researchers have attempted to create strategies for prevention. This leads to the question of whether or not the lack of success is related to the fact that many preterm birth prevention programs focused solely on preterm labor only. There is also the issue of epidemiologic