WHO Ignores Link Between Growing Incidence of Preterm Birth and Abortion

May 24, 2012
By Lucia Muchova

Excerpt:
Prematurity is identified as “the world’s single biggest cause of newborn death, and the second leading cause of all child deaths.” Premature births pose difficult challenges to parents, doctors and society at large, as premature babies often face a higher risk of lifetime disability, requiring lifelong care and medical support. According to the WHO report, preterm birth rates have increased in nearly all countries.

The reasons for this increase are not entirely clear. Recognizing the problem through improved data measurement likely plays a role, especially in developing countries. Underlying causes, however, may relate to the increased use of infertility treatments, higher frequency of caesarean births, higher rates of diabetes, and high blood pressure or infections among mothers.

But one important factor is consciously omitted in the list, abortion. The References section of the WHO report mentions two studies that demonstrate an increased risk of preterm birth associated with abortion. Yet the body of the 126-page long report is completely silent on abortion.

In a soon-to-be-released C-FAM briefing paper, Dr. Byron Calhoun, M.D. reveals a common trend in research literature on preterm birth to consciously exclude the link between abortion and preterm birth. No less than 127 individual studies of women from all around the world show that both induced and spontaneous abortion is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. Several meta-analyses of multiple studies illustrate the same pattern. Multiple abortions can increase the risk of preterm birth by more than 200%. And yet none of this is mentioned in the WHO report. the rest