Risk of Lower Reading and Math Scores in Children Born too Early

A recent study has pointed out that children born too early may not perform all that well in school and may have lower test scores. Even though pregnancy is considered full term at 37 weeks, Doctors advice women to pull along till 39 weeks, if possible, as a lot of crucial development takes place in the last two weeks of pregnancy.

The study showed that children born at 37 or 38 weeks portrayed lower achievement scores than those born at 39, 40 or 41 weeks.

There was a 16% greater risk of suffering a mild impairment in performing basic math skills in children born at 37 weeks, such as computation or estimation, in comparison with children born at 41 weeks. The score improved with each additional week of gestation.

“Children born at 37 weeks and 38 weeks have an increased risk of academic performance problems compared to children born at 39 weeks or 40 weeks. So we recommend exercising caution in inducing delivery prior to 39 weeks.”



Source-Medindia