Top in women's health: Preterm birth rates; Breast cancer in younger Black women
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Preterm and early-term birth rates increased significantly from 2014 to 2022, with a 42% increase in births at 37 weeks’ gestation, according to CDC researchers. Rates of late-term and post-term births fell during the same period.
“The rate of preterm birth in the United States rose by more than one-third from 1981 to 2006. This rise prompted concern and a heightened awareness of the morbidities associated with births delivered at 34 to 36 weeks of gestation, or late preterm. ... Late preterm and early-term births declined for several years, from 2007 to 2014, but have been on the rise in recent years,” wrote Joyce A. Martin, MPH, and Michelle J.K. Osterman, MHS, both epidemiologists at the CDC.
It was the top story in women’s health last week.
In another top story, rates of breast cancer are rising among non-Hispanic Black women aged younger than 39 years. According to an analysis of data from 2000 to 2019, the incidence rate ratio for Black vs. white women aged 20 to 29 years was 1.53, and the incidence rate ratio between ages 30 to 39 was 1.15.
Read these and more top stories in women’s health below:
Preterm, early-term birth rates up in US since 2014
From 2014 to 2022, preterm and early-term birth rates rose, and the rate of late-term and post-term births declined, with similar rates across maternal age, race and ethnicity groups, gestational age a strong predictor of morbidity and early mortality, CDC researchers reported. Read more.
Breast cancer incidence rates increasing among younger Black women
From 2000-2019, breast cancer incidence rates increased among women aged 20 to 49 years, with more elevated rates among non-Hispanic Black women aged 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 years, according to study findings published in JAMA Network Open. Read more.
Rise in anxiety, depression symptoms for residents in states with strict abortion laws
Living in states with abortion trigger laws was associated with small but significantly greater increases in anxiety and depression symptoms after Dobbs compared with states without such laws, according to survey data published in JAMA. Read more.
Parents with shorter maternity leave quit breastfeeding sooner
Maternity leave duration has a strong positive association with breastfeeding duration for new mothers with disparities observed among different racial/ethnic groups, according to findings published in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Read more.
VIDEO: With menstrual irregularity, consider primary ovarian insufficiency
In this video exclusive, Caroline T. Nguyen, MD, talks with Cynthia A. Stuenkel, MD, MSCP, about diagnosing primary ovarian insufficiency, a condition similar to but different from menopause among women younger than 40 years. Read more.