Would you rather have a dead baby in your arms straight after birth or wait a couple of hours for a living baby (who had to go to the nursery) who you can then hold in your arms for the rest of their life ?
Stupid questions… Right?
I’m concerned because there is a growing narrative in Australia that we should “redefine” term along the lines of our USA colleagues and not induce birth until 39 weeks yet there are more and more reports suggesting that the 39 week rule is doing is own special kind of harm in the US, here is the latest from a study published in Hospital Pediatrics
Title: NICU Admissions After a Policy to Eliminate Elective Early Term Deliveries Before 39 Weeks’ Gestation
It was quite a large retrospective cohort study , here is a screen shot of the results
So once again I ask, do you think the .8% more mothers who were temporarily separated from their babies prior to the 39 week rule were harmed as much as the 33.33% more mothers who had a stillborn baby after it? Hmmm…stupid question.. right?