Alfred
Brann, M.D., Leads New Low Birth Weight Program At Grady Memorial
Hospital
A joint program
being spearheaded by the Emory University departments of gynecology
and obstetrics and pediatrics at Grady Memorial Hospital seeks to reduce
the number of low-birth weight, premature infants in Georgia – especially
those born year after year to the same at-risk women.
"The major cause of infant
mortality in Georgia is that there are too many tiny babies being born
here," said neonatologist Alfred Brann, M.D., professor of pediatrics
with the Emory University School of Medicine at Grady Hospital. Brann
is also director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center
in Reproductive Health (WHO/CC/RH), whose mission is improving the poor
reproductive outcomes of women in Georgia.
Dr. Brann and Luella Klein,
M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology with the Emory University
School of Medicine, are leading the Interpregnancy Care Project. Interpregnancy
care, by definition, is care given during the time between the birth
of a womanÕs last child and her next pregnancy.
As part of the project, Dr.
Brann and Dr. Klein will develop strategies for women who have had very
low birth weight babies at Grady.
"So far, no strategies have
been defined to identify which woman is going to have her first baby
prematurely. The challenge is to know which women to concentrate on,"
Dr. Brann said.
Data strongly links low birth
weight and pre-term births (in singleton pregnancies) as the strongest
predictor of women who are at risk for having another very low birth
weight infant. Strategies for the program, which is set to begin in
early fall, will address the broader needs of the woman and her access
to basic health services to improve her health status. The strategy
of Interpregnancy Care is especially important for women who have had
very low birth weight infants and are at risk for a subsequent pregnancy.
"The purpose of the project
is to evaluate the effectiveness this program will have in improving
pregnancy outcomes for women who have very low birth weight babies,"
Dr. Brann said.
A study by the Task Force
on the Georgia Perinatal Program, for example, recently found that premature
or low birth weight babies who weigh 1,500 grams or less – which is
about three-and-a-half pounds - account for 50 percent of GeorgiaÕs
infant mortality rate. Georgia ranks among the top 10 states with both
the highest infant mortality and low birth weight rates in the country.
Low birth weight leads to compounding problems; not only is it the leading
cause of most infant deaths, but it results in extremely disabling and
expensive health problems among surviving low birth weight children.
Over the past 15 years in metro Atlanta, cases of cerebral palsy have
increased, as has the number and survival of low birth weight babies.
The first strategy of the
Interpregnancy Project will be to improve the health of the woman who
has had a very low birth weight infant. This will be done by identifying
specific medical and social risks that the mom may have. Another strategy
involves assisting the woman in achieving her reproductive goals, which
include a planned pregnancy with an interval of at least six to 18 months
before she has a second child.
"We think pregnancy is too
late to start trying to prevent a premature birth," Dr. Brann noted.
"The approach is to help the woman delay pregnancy, get her health up
to par, and then have a planned pregnancy."
Previously, most interventions
for women with spontaneous pre-term labor have focused on women after
they are pregnant.
"Currently, the strategies
that offer the greatest potential for increasing a high-risk womanÕs
chance of having a full-term, normal, healthy baby are either preconception
or interpregnancy care," Brann said.
The Interpregnancy Care Project
is being developed through a partnership between the Emory University
component of the WHO/CC/RH and funds from the Vasser-Wooley Foundation,
the Rockdale Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
the Georgia Chapter of the March of Dimes, and Grady Memorial Hospital.
It is expected to last four years.
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