4.4 lakh premature babies born every year: study

An estimated 4, 38,800 premature babies are born every year in the country, according to Save the Children.

Of them, 23,600 babies die facing breathing and feeding difficulties, and low birth weight due to premature births, it finds.

The international non-governmental organisation (NGO) promoting children's rights today revealed the information at a roundtable on "World Prematurity Day" at The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka.

Save the Children organised the programme in association with The Daily Star, Unicef, Bangladesh Paediatric Association (BPA), Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Bangladesh (OGSB), Bangladesh Prenatal Society, Bangladesh Nurses Association (BNA) and Bangladesh Midwifery Society (BMS).

Bangladesh is on the seventh position among top 10 countries with the largest numbers of preterm births and deaths, Save the Children mentioned. In the both categories, India remains on the top list.

Save the Children's Programme Director Sayed Rubayet presented the keynote paper on the World Prematurity Day at the function.

A full-term pregnancy lasts between 37 and 42 weeks. But when a baby is born earlier than 37 weeks, he or she is called the premature child, according to doctors.

"Preterm or premature babies death is now the leading cause of child deaths. An estimated 22,000 babies with extreme risks are born in two weeks before the normal deadline," said Rubayet. 

Preterm births have been observed due to adolescent pregnancy, short birth spacing, hypertension, diabetics, obesity, domestic violence and some other reasons, he pointed out the causes.

Additional research works were being carried out to identify more causes, she added.