Premature Births in B.C. Canada Probed
By Danell Swim
March 27, 2008
The B.C. Health Ministry is trying to determine whether a spike in premature births that has forced B.C. moms to seek treatment in Washington state needs a permanent solution.
In 2007, 18 premature babies from B.C. were born at Deaconess Medical Centre in Spokane at a total cost of $1.6 million US.
Already this year, 13 more preterm B.C. babies have been born south of the border.
“October and November 2007 [saw] the biggest-ever spike,” B.C. Health Minister George Abbott told The Province yesterday. “We’re trying to determine whether it is a short-term spike or a long-term trend.”
Abbott said B.C. now has 194 beds set aside for neonatal critical care, up 16 from 2005.
While the price per birth in the U.S. averaged $94,000, Abbott said there are no equivalent statistics for premature births in B.C.
“When the need is there, that is our highest priority,” said Abbott. “We can care for babies of less than one pound, and that’s far better than five or 10 years ago.”
NDP MLA Adrian Dix said the real issue was whether mothers sent south of the border are being adequately looked after.
“It is true that last year there was a significant increase in preemie babies, more than could have been reasonably expected, so we have to respond by increasing capacity,” said Dix.
“As long as this is going on — as long as we have to continue sending mothers to the United States, we have to provide them support.”
The babies sent south get one clear advantage — they’re dual citizens, U.S. as well as Canadian, because of their birthplace.
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