Premature or preterm births are defined as live births before a woman completes thirty-seven weeks of pregnancy. A new study found that about fifteen million babies were born prematurely around the world in twenty-ten. The study was the first of its kind, and shows that the problem exists in poor countries as well as in wealthy ones.
Researchers (1) information from eighty-four countries. The researchers were from Save the Children, a (2) organization. They found that more than one in ten babies are born too soon.
The research team found that fifteen countries -- including the United States and (3) -- had two-thirds of all preterm births. Sixty percent of preterm births happen in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Problems related to premature birth are the second most common (4) of death in children under five, after pneumonia. The study found that these (5) of preterm birth result in more than a million deaths around the world every year.
Babies born early are more likely to develop (6) and problems with their eyesight and hearing. They can also suffer cerebral palsy, a neurological condition, and a lifetime of (7) . The risk of death in a newborn also (8) if babies are born after less than thirty-two weeks of pregnancy.
But eight out of ten premature babies are born between thirty-two and thirty-seven weeks. Joy Lawn of Save the Children in South Africa led the team that wrote the report for the (9) . She says with the right medical care and loving attention, these newborns have a good chance of survival.
JOY LAWN: "They would survive with really basic care. So, being breastfed, being kept warm. And they are at much higher risk of infection, so treating with antibiotics."
She says only five percent of preterm babies were born at twenty-eight weeks or less. (10)
the research team found that only three countries -- Croatia, Ecuador and Estonia -- reported a decrease in their preterm birth rates between nineteen ninety and twenty-ten.
JOY LAWN: "Really we can't point to one solution and say this is what caused it. Just as we couldn't point to something in the U.S. and say this is what caused the very high rates in the U.S."
In the United States, twelve percent of all live births in twenty-ten were preterm.
上期活动答案:
1、 reduce
2、 known
3、 former
4、 seniors
5、 excess
6、 secondhand smoke
7、 older individuals
8、 diesel fuel exhaust
9、 probably carcinogenic
10、 the mining study lacked exact data on exposure levels during its early years.