Supporting premature babies must be a bipartisan issue

Congress wants to abandon the baby in the bath.

This month, expansion and education in premature research for mothers delivering infants early will expire. Without Congressional reauthorization, the federal government will cut only national programs aimed at reducing the main causes of premature babies, the main causes of long-term disability in children.

As a neonatologist, I was born four and a half hours ago and cares about babies measuring cans that weigh less than two. These little babies who missed the whole middle trimester need special ventilators and struggle to breathe in their immature lungs. Their temperature and environment are constantly controlled in the incubator, and their intravenous nutrition needs to be customized daily. Highly immunocompromised preterm infants are constantly at risk of fatal infections, and all organs, from the eyes to the kidneys to the brain, are not developed seriously. Most pregnancies are healthy, but early births often have health problems that last up to adulthood, including cerebral palsy and long-term disorders.

Despite the dramatic improvements in the care of these patients, there is still considerable work left. Neonatologists say the best way to care for premature babies is to prevent them from being born early. However, one in ten babies in the US is premature, and the causes of most of these early delivery remain unknown. The US maternal mortality rate is embarrassingly high, more than 2-3 times more than its fellow countries. Last year, with Dime’s march, Florida gave them D+ to improve maternal health and reduce immaturity. The early birth rate last year was 10.7%, with Florida ranked 32nd in the nation and above the national average.

My patients’ vulnerable lives require more than just a dedicated doctor or hardworking nurse. They rely on science, policy and compassion to survive. The law represents the only federal investment that addresses immaturity. The Preemie Act supports public health programs across the country that help mothers manage diabetes, hypertension and other diseases that occur during pregnancy. Black women are 50% more likely to give birth early, and this task is essential to reduce racial disparities in preterm birth rates.

In your community hospital, a doctor and nurse trained Preemie ACT program allows staff to ensure that if a very premature baby is born in a facility, staff can ensure that the baby is fully stable until the arrival of a neonatologist and intensive care training nurse. Almost half of the babies I care about are born in other facilities. If I lose my ability to train local doctors, these babies get sick to my unit, become more unstable and at a higher risk of lifelong medical problems.

The $20 million cost of the Preemie Act is a bargain. In 2016, preterm babies cost $25.2 billion for the US health system or $64,800 per preterm babies. By 2023, costs had risen to more than $270,000 per patient, with the bill for most severe infants approaching $4 million. A joint project between newborn units funded by the Premie Act reduced infections in high-risk infants by 67% and was associated with savings per baby $43,000. And this does not take into account the emotional and physical blows on the family, or the non-medical costs that parents incur for transportation, meals and childcare during months of hospitalization for newborns.

Protecting newborns and promoting mother health should be a bipartisan priority. Newborns should be in a district where we can all agree to support them. remie The remie method is a national commitment to reducing the difficulties that premature babies and their families can endure. Allowing reauthorization is a major step in our goal of giving every baby the healthiest start in life.

Shetal Shah, MD, FAAP is a neonatologist and chair of the past National Council on Pediatric Policy.