Coronavirus can destroy the placenta and lead to stillbirths

An estimated 2,000 babies are born prematurely in the UK every year. This rate is a staggering statistic but how on earth can this be prevented?

The NHS says that 70 per cent of these babies are born prematurely and are at-risk of being born prematurely or die within 24 hours of birth. But this doesn't seem to have come under much scrutiny. A study has shown some of the commonest causes of premature births were not well managed during or after childbirth so there is an urgent need to tackle the issues.

In many cases, it's due to the placenta growing too deeply into the woman's uterus. Some women may develop labour before they feel they're about to give birth so their body goes into labour prematurely. During pregnancy, the placenta grows to cover about half the size of your finger off the top of your hand. It then expands across the upper abdominal wall (or as deep as your pelvic bones) and attaches itself to muscles in your hip, knee and ankle which helps with moving around. This causes these muscles to contract more than normal if you have a bump or a swollen limb or sore shoulder. If you have a flat tumour, then the placenta will grow even deeper, covered by the bladder and bowel, but still attached to the muscle groups around your knee. That means it’s harder for your knee to twist and move inwards and outwards because it’s trapped underneath this mass of tissue. When your knee bends inwards, your knee bone gets exposed and becomes stuck as well. You may experience pain in your knee and your knee may get stuck. Because of these factors, it’s often recommended to have a mid-thigh scan which gives us an idea of what’s going on in our knee. In the United Kingdom, the average height of the baby’s heel is 13.5cm. So if your knee bends inwards it will probably be bent inwards between 5cm and 12.5cm in normal circumstances and if it bends outwards then it’ll be bent outwards under 12.5cm. In such circumstances, the mid-thigh scans usually show signs of muscle weakness, knee swelling, leg length differences or spinal stenosis. These symptoms are commonly seen in people who are pregnant as well as those who are developing complications like gestational high blood pressure and low or middle lobe effusion. There are also very rare and very serious occurrences of miscarriage. These complications can be caused by several things including trauma, internal injury or stroke. According to www.nhs.uk, the most common causes of miscarriages are listed below:

Obesity

Premature labour

Pregnancy loss

Pregnancy diabetes

Breastfeeding problems

Low weight loss

Loss of pregnancy

Loss of pregnancy due to ectopic pregnancies

Loss of pregnancy due to pre-eclampsia

Lifetime risk of miscarriages

Loss of pregnancy due to abortion

Miscarriage

There is no definitive solution to anything, but in the past three decades, we've had amazing advances in our understanding of health. We've learnt a lot about human physiology and how we all work. From improving treatment for disease to discovering the best way to prevent something from happening. With technology now providing us all with the tools to help us improve our overall quality of life, people must now address how health care is delivered because that is where most health challenges originate.

The current state of affairs when talking about the risks of premature birth is terrible. At the heart of this is the lack of good data on the causes and risks associated with a range of conditions that can cause early labour and deliveries as well as poor outcomes in pregnancy. Unfortunately, the research is scanty and we simply don’t know enough about it because there hasn’t been any real focus on this.

There could be a large contribution to the knowledge base when looking at the placenta. The placenta, along with its various components, carries essential chemicals that carry oxygen in the female body as well as other materials that aid digestion and healing. One important element for health when it comes to the placenta is its ability to supply nutrients through the food a mother is feeding her. Every time the mother feeds her baby, she introduces them to different types of foods. Their immune system begins to learn about the foods they eat, and if they aren't eating certain vegetables then they start learning what they should be eating and whether or not these foods are safe for the baby. In the case of humans, babies are given lots of food throughout their lives but what we are told isn't necessarily true as the food the baby is being fed is altered slightly. For instance, rice is sometimes called green rice which is supposed to add healthy benefits to the body, but in fact does not actually taste well for the baby. Another modification is the use of artificial additives such as bleaching agents, colouring of foods and preservatives. People should always try to avoid unnatural ingredients whenever possible.

This is where a lot of potential damage that can occur can happen. As the placenta grows and expands more and more cells will begin to multiply there will be more demand and supply of nutrients to meet. What was once abundant in abundance may now be difficult to sustain. Once more growth develops further and more cells begin to produce oxygen, oxygen levels will become depleted. This leads to hypoxia – the death of surrounding tissues in the process of suffocation. This occurs when a region of the brain known as the ventricle stops receiving fresh oxygen from the body; this is called ‘capillary leak’. Once the capillaries are blocked and oxygen and blood cannot flow, there appears to be little else that can provide anymore oxygen. This leads to the organ failure at which point a person dies.

If the mother is at less than full term of the baby, then the child is at risk of being sick with neonatal sepsis. Severely ill infants and very few healthy ones survive this. Children who develop sepsis may experience breathing problems and may require an operation at some point. Severe birth defects can also occur at this stage as many organs systems will not function properly. Babies also suffer from asthma, pneumonia and ear infections and their parents can fall victim to them.

So why aren't babies born earlier? Well since the introduction of foetal monitoring, people have been able to predict premature birth as they go through the birthing process. Today it can take up to eight weeks or longer for your baby to have any sort of improvement after birth, a reason as to why it can be dangerous. All babies being born prematurely, unless they are extremely premature, are at higher longterm risk of experiencing a number of common side effects as they grow older, with the main ones being:

Diabetes

Maldevelopment - The growth and development of brain and central nervous system and spinal cord

Brain Development - Learning and memory

Learning Disorders - Problems developing language and speech

Gastrointestinal System Development - Absence of lactation and delayed digestion from diet and water

Risk of Heart Failure - Blood vessels in the heart are separated by fatty acids and cholesterol can leak, which increases the chances of heart failure.

Blood Gases

Risk of Kidney Damage

Blood Clots

Risk of Infections

The above issues can affect both women and men. Women are at increased risk of all these issues because they give birth before 50, which puts them at more risk of having complications. They may also be overweight because they tend to have larger babies and end up giving birth more often. Men are more likely to suffer blood clots and heart failure risks, particularly if they are obese. Women generally receive better diagnosis and treatment when they are diagnosed of any symptoms and even more if they are diagnosed early on. Most importantly they have access to a midwives, which allows them to assess the situation themselves. This is particularly helpful if they are aware of the impact on others if they succumb to these problems.

The current state of affairs is bleak and the only thing which can really help it is science. Research should focus on health issues and disorders which the current state of affairs revolves around. By bringing forth the findings of other studies it gives the public a greater picture of what's going on.

As a society we need to change the way health services are provided. Medical professionals should be made available wherever people need to be referred for medical help, and this would improve the overall safety of healthcare in our country. Our government needs to take action and legislate changes that will ease and speed up the delivery of healthcare which can bring the right care to patients. In addition to that we need the authorities to do more to ensure everyone has access to adequate and timely information about their own healthcare needs and how to avoid harm to themselves and those around them.

To conclude, there is definitely a problem and I can say that is mainly due to the social and cultural issues related to obesity. While many women are struggling with unwanted pregnancies and low pregnancy rates, there are many other problems which make pregnancy unfulfilling a huge issue. Having a late baby isn't a bad thing, and it may be a blessing depending on your individual situation. Your pregnancy does not determine who you are or who your baby will be but it does determine how successful the whole journey will be. Be aware however of the risks of late or early birth and do everything you can to minimise or eliminate those risks.