For mothers suffering from preeclampsia, treatment costs are higher when babies are born at a low gestational age, a study by health care policy Ruth L. Newhouse associate professor Anupam B. Jena, MD, PhD, and colleagues reports.
In 2012, treatment for preeclampsia, the leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in the U.S., cost $1.03 billion for mothers and $1.15 billion for infants in the first 12 months after birth. Mothers may suffer from stroke, heart disease, renal failure, and seizures while infants experience breathing and vision trouble, as well as long-term development issues.
“There is very little work on the national epidemiology of preeclampsia, which is surprising given that it is a leading cause of maternal mortality and maternal mortality rates in the U.S. and exceeds those in other similarly developed countries” Jena said in an email to the Washington Post.
The full study, titled “Short-term costs of preeclampsia to the United States health care system” by Warren Stevens, PhD, Tiffany Shih, PhD, Devin Incerti, PhD, Thanh G.N. Ton, MPH, PhD, Henry C. Lee, MD, Desi Peneva, MS, George A. Macones, MD, Baha M. Sibai, MD, Anupam B. Jena, MD, PhD, can be found in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
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