| The preterm delivery rate among the four million infants born annually in the United States reached 12.5 percent in 2004 and continues to rise. Roughly half a million babies in the United States are born prematurely each year and 50 percent of those premature births have no known cause. Often faced with serious health complications due to their prematurity, these newborns can require long-term neonatal intensive care unit stays and suffer lifelong health consequences, costing an estimated $18 billion in related hospital expenses.
In 2008, the March of Dimes continues to suppot innovative research at UVM/Fletcher Allen with a $395,965 Prematurity Research Initiative Grant awarded to Mark Phillippe, M.D., professor and chair of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences. In 2007, Elizabeth Bonney, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, received a $399,611 Prematurity Research Initiative Grant to fund her study of how two key participants in inflammatory processes – called macrophages and T cells – might interact to produce or suppress preterm birth.
“The March of Dimes recognizes UVM/Fletcher Allen as an emerging center of excellence in the fight against prematurity,” says Roger Clapp, state director of the March of Dimes’ Vermont Chapter. “This research, which is made possible through fundraising efforts such as March for Babies in our state and across the country, will make a difference in the lives of real Vermonters, who face challenges like this every day.”
Phillippe’s current laboratory research focuses on intrauterine inflammatory signaling pathways in response to infection during pregnancy. The March of Dimes grant will help support his investigation of a specific group of intracellular proteins known to play a role in stimulating preterm labor as a part of the immune response related to this type of infection.
“Even though the biological sequence of events leading to preterm delivery remains unclear, current evidence suggests that intrauterine infection and/or inflammation contribute to many of these deliveries, especially before the 30th week of pregnancy,” says Mark Phillippe, M.D., professor and chair of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Vermont/Fletcher Allen Health Care.
That’s good news for Brooke Duffy of Williston, Vt., who went into preterm labor due to a suspected infection and gave birth prematurely to her daughter Keegan in July 2006. “We will never know what caused my infection or preterm labor, if I already had the infection and it caused me to go into labor or visa versa,” she admits. “This is why I believe in further research for preterm labor and prematurity.”
According to Phillippe, preterm delivery occurs in about 13 percent of deliveries at Fletcher Allen Health Care. Though the leading risk factors for preterm birth are multifetal pregnancies, a past history of preterm delivery, and uterine and/or cervical abnormalities, a growing body of research evidence supports the belief that infection could also cause this event.
These Prematurity Research Initiative Grants are two of only 21 Prematurity Research Initiative Grants awarded nationally in 2007 and 2008.
The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.
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