Today.Az » Society » About 10pct of babies are prematurely born in Azerbaijan
15 May 2018 [15:29] - Today.Az


By Azernews


By Kamila Aliyeva

As many as 332 newborns were registered with extremely low birth weight (500-1,000 grams) in Azerbaijan in 2017.

The chief neonatologist of the country, chairman of the special commission for the improvement of neonatological services of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Health, Rustam Huseynov, told Trend.

The number of prematurely born children weighing less than 1,000 grams makes one percent of all newborns, according to Huseynov.

He added that at the moment one of the main problems in the field of neonatology in the world is the birth of children with a small (1,000-1,500 grams) and extremely low weight.

Huseynov noted that in recent times, 8-10 percent of babies are prematurely born in Azerbaijan annually.

“In the world, the number of premature infants among newborns is about 5-14 percent, in some cases, 16 percent. This problem also exists in developed countries. Despite the development of obstetrics and gynecology in some countries, the cause of preterm delivery is pregnant women’s lifestyle, ecology and the impact of various diseases,” he said.

Huseynov went on to say that only 30-35 percent of premature babies in Azerbaijan weighing less than 1,000 grams remain alive.

“Over the past 10 years, we have achieved relatively high rates. We are confident that the number of surviving newborns with extremely low weight will increase,” he added.

The neonatologist said that, in connection with the application of new birth rates, now, children weighing more than 500 grams and with a gestation period of more than 22 weeks are considered live-born.

About 16 babies are born in Azerbaijan each hour. The number of newborns in January-March 2018 exceeded 23,000.

Previously it was believed that children born before the 28th week of pregnancy and weighing less than a kilogram are considered stillborn. However, since January 2015, after the transition of Azerbaijan to the international standards of live birth, children born in the beginning of the 22nd week and weighing from 500 grams, are considered live-born. Modern medicine allows these children to go out to normal weight, returning them to their parents.



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