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In this issue:

Low Birth Weight Babies

Why Should We Be Concerned
About Low Birth Weight Babies?

There are over 3,000 low birth weight babies born in Minnesota each year. For many of these infants and their families, the effects are devastating.

BABIES BORN WITH LOW BIRTH WEIGHTS CAN SUFFER HORRIFYING CONSEQUENCES.

Those that survive can suffer:

• respiratory infections
• cardiac infections
• learning disabilities
• cerebral palsy
• blindness

THE COSTS TO THE FAMILY AND SOCIETY ARE TREMENDOUS.

Huge medical costs: The average length of stay for a low birth weight baby in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is 20 days, and some remain for as long as 4 months. NICU care costs about $1395 per day in the Twin Cities.

Increased public aid: The working poor, the homeless, and very young women are at greatest risk for having low birth weight babies. These people usually have no medical insurance. Therefore, these costs must often be picked up by Medicaid and/or the hospital system.

Long term costs: Long terms costs, including health care and special education, have been estimated at $362,999 for each extremely-low birth weight infant who survives.

Postponed relationships: Because extended hospitalization is often required and because the threat of death is so strong, families often are unable to develop immediate loving relationships, crucial for the child's development, early on.

What Causes Low Birth Weight?

• poor prenatal nutrition
• smoking, alcohol, or drug use during pregnancy
• infectious diseases during pregnancy (such as German Measles or sexually transmitted diseases)
• lack of prenatal medical care largely due to inaccessibility because of:
  • a shortage of clinics or physicians accepting Medicaid patients
  • lack of money and/or insurance -lack of transportation to distant clinics -lack of child care

Improving access to education services and prenatal care is a crucial step toward reducing the incidence of low birth weight babies. In fact, in the Twin Cities, women who do not receive prenatal care until late in pregnancy are 30% more likely to deliver a low birth weight child.

How Can We Prevent It?

We can avoid the tremendous emotional, physical, and financial costs of bringing low birth weight babies into the world. To achieve this goal, Fact Find suggests:

• make family planning services more accessible to low-income and teenage women; provide services in schools, churches, community organizations, YMCAs, youth centers, etc.
• remove barriers for teenagers to get birth control by ensuring confidentiality
• promote program evaluation and research to find effective and culturally sensitive family planning strategies for males and females
• remove barriers for pregnant drug and alcohol abusers seeking help by eliminating risk of legal sanctions
• offer adequate nutrition to pregnant women by expanding such programs as WIC, food stamps, and food shelves
• coordinate services aimed at reducing risk factors so that pregnant women can receive care and education more easily

Fact Find is published by the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED), University of Minnesota, 40 Education Sciences Building, 56 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN, 55455

ceed@umn.edu (email)
http://cehd.umn.edu/ceed (Web)

CEED provides information regarding young children (birth to age eight), including children with special needs, in the areas of education, child care, child development, and family education. CEED activities include research, training, and publications geared toward improving professional practices, supporting parents, and informing policy development.

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity employer and educator. The College of Education and Human Development is committed to recruiting, enrolling, and education a diverse population of students who represent the overall composition of our society. This publication is available in alternate formats upon request.

Copyright © 2004 by Center for Early Education and Development

These materials may be freely reproduced for education/training or related activities. There is no requirement to obtain special permission for such uses. We do, however, ask that the following citation appear on all reproductions:

Reprinted with permission of the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED), College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota, 40 Education Sciences Building, 56 East River Road, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455-0223; phone: 612-625-2898; fax: 612-625-6619; e-mail: ceed@umn.edu, web site: http://cehd.umn.edu/ceed.