Rising rate of low-birthweight babies a baffling trend

By Richard Whitmire / Gannett News Service

    WASHINGTON -- Fewer pregnant women smoke, the teen birth rate continues to fall, more women receive prenatal care -- and yet American women continue to deliver low-birthweight babies at an unusually high rate.
    A report on 1995 data by the National Center for Health Statistics shows 7.3 percent of all babies born weigh less than 51/2 pounds.
    That rate, which has been creeping up steadily for the past decade, puzzles medical researchers.
    Babies born at low birthweights have more physical disabilities or learning problems in school.
    "We haven't come up with a method for preventing prematurity," said Rachael Schwartz from the National Perinatal Information Center, referring to the biggest cause of low-birthweight deliveries.
    The mystery about the low-birthweight data is this: For years, health professionals have said tiny babies are a result of women being denied health care, teen births, racial differences and abuses during pregnancy such as smoking, drinking and drug use. Yet, many of those factors are improving.
    Some examples from the report:
   * Tobacco use among pregnant women has declined 29 percent since 1989. As of 1995, 14 percent of pregnant women used tobacco.
   * The percentage of mothers who began prenatal care during their first trimester rose to 81.3 percent in 1995, the highest rate ever.
   * The birth rate for teens declined 4 percent between 1994 and 1995, with the largest decline -- 8 percent -- for black teens.
   * The drinking rate for pregnant women declined in 1995, with only 1.5 percent saying they used alcohol during pregnancy.
    So why does the low-birthweight rate remain so high?
    The National Center for Health Statistics offers no explanation.

Copyright 1997, The Detroit News
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