Today we stumble upon one of those studies that we would like to review in depth because, despite the apparently firm results, it raises some doubts. According to recent research, premature children are worse students.
While it is true that the final weeks of pregnancy are crucial for the later physical development of the baby (and that is why they are not born before week 38), are these last weeks really decisive for the child's intellectual progress? Are there not many other factors involved, difficult to measure simply by comparing grades?
In the study, led by Dr. Kimberly Noble (assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York Presbyterian Hospital), 128,050 babies born between week 37 and 41 of gestation in New York between 1988 were examined and 1992.
Investigators they compared the duration of pregnancy with the children's notes (in third grade) in math and reading subjects, and the results appear in the journal "Pediatrics".
Children born between week 37 and 38 had lower grades than those born in week 41 of pregnancy. In fact, 33% of children born earlier had a severe reading delay compared to those born at term, or problems in math and calculus.
Not only that, but for each additional week of pregnancy, children's grades improved. The trend continued even after other variants such as birth weight, socioeconomic status, race and family history of toxic substance use were adjusted.
Anyway, the researchers themselves speak of a increased risk of school delay if the baby is premature, and that risk alone would be enough to ensure that no deliveries were induced before week 39.
The results of this study add to the body of scientific evidence that shows that babies born from the 39th week of pregnancy eat better, weigh more and have less vision and hearing problems.
The key, brain development
Perhaps the key to that higher risk of school delay is found in brain development. Babies born later have larger brains, because between the 37th and 41st week of pregnancy, the brain continues to grow, and gray matter and nerves increase, which will then intervene in nerve and neuronal connections.
But if the baby's brain continues to grow after delivery, what would cause this further development? According to the director of the study:
Perhaps there is something about the uterine environment that supports brain development favorably in the last month of pregnancy, which may be affected by an early birth.
We also remember that previous studies calculated the risk of neurological problems at 37% if the baby is born with complications (although other problems at birth were included, not just being born prematurely).
In any case, the correct development of brain and neurological functions depends a lot in the first years of brain plasticity and the stimulation that has been carried out with children.
I don't know if there will be more physical or intellectual benefits, in any case it is clear that a baby born too early can have a bad time, so that, whenever possible, it is advisable not to get ahead of nature. That is why it is still so important to investigate the risk factors for premature births, to try to prevent them as much as possible.
