Healthy Before Pregnancy

March of DimesNC Preconception Health

Campaign

Pathways to poor birth outcomes:Lesson Plan 1

Healthy before pregnancy

• Achieve a healthy lifestyle BEFORE becoming pregnant.

• Making healthy choices before pregnancy can greatly improve birth outcomes.

• A daily multivitamin, eating smart and moving more NOW makes a big difference.

Main messages

• Make your life simple—take a multivitamin• Eat smart, move more• Know your risks, have a plan• Be a champion for healthy babies

Overview

• Section 1: Birth outcome terms• Section 2: Causes of poor birth

outcomes• Section 3: Overview of birth defects • Section 4: NC and birth outcomes• Section 5: What a healthy pregnancy

looks like

Section 1: Birth outcome terms

Birth outcome terms

• Infant mortality• Birth defects• Unintended pregnancies• Environmental factors• Prenatal care• Premature birth (prematurity)• Epidemic• Low birthweight

Infant mortality

Birth defects

Unintended pregnancies

Environmental factors

Prenatal care

Premature birth (prematurity)

Epidemic

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, final natality data. Retrieved September 29, 2010, from marchofdimes.com/peristats. © 2010 March of Dimes Foundation. All rights reserved.

 Preterm Births: US, 2007

Epidemic

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, final natality data. Retrieved September 29, 2010, from marchofdimes.com/peristats. © 2010 March of Dimes Foundation. All rights reserved.

 Preterm Births by race/ethnicity: North Carolina, 2005-2007 Average

Low birthweight

=

Section 2: Causes of poor birth outcomes

• Genetic birth defects• Maternal illness• Medication• Environment (smoking, drugs,

drinking)• Age of mother • “Don’t know” category

Genetic birth defects

Causes of poor birth outcomes: Maternal illness

Medication

Environment

Age of mother

• Teen mothers are more likely to:• Have babies born to soon and/or too

small• Have babies that die• Go into labor too early, have anemia

and high blood pressure

“Don’t know” category

Section 3: Overview of birth defects

• 120,000 or 1 in 33 U.S. babies are born with birth defects

• Most common include:• Heart defects • Cleft lip/palate• Down syndrome• Spina bifida

Single gene defects

• Achondroplasia• Marfan syndrome• Tay-Sachs disease• Cystic fibrosis

X-linked birth defects

For example:•Hemophilia

Birth defects: Chromosomal

For example:•Down syndrome

Down syndrome.Source: U.S. Department of Energy Human Genome Program.

Birth defects: Metabolic disorders

For example:Phenylketonuria (PKU)

Copyright © March of Dimes Foundation, Inc.

Birth defects: Multifactorial

• Cleft lip/palate• Neural tube

defects• Heart defects

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities

Neural tube defects

• Anencephaly• Spina bifida

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities

Neural tube defects

• 2,500-3,000 U.S. babies are born each year with NTDs

• Another 1,500 are still born or terminated because of this birth defect

• In NC, approximately 200 pregnancies are affected by a NTD each year

Section 4: North Carolina and birth outcomes

An average week in NC:

• How many babies are born?

2,459

• How many babies are born to teen mothers (ages 15-19)?

283

An average week in NC:

• How many babies are born to mothers who receive inadequate prenatal care?

226

An average week in NC:

An average week in NC:

• How many babies are born prematurely?

334

An average week in NC:

• How many babies are born low birthweight (weighing less than 5 lbs, 8 oz)?

223

An average week in NC:

• How many babies die before their first birthday?

21

• NC ranks 45th for infant mortality

• NC ranks 41st for premature birth

© 2009 March of Dimes Foundation. All rights reserved.

How does NC compare?

Healthy birth outcomes

Main messages

• Make your life simple - take a multivitamin• Eat smart, move more• Know your risks, have a plan• Be a healthy babies champion