Gestational Age Linked to Later Learning Difficulties

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/06/10/gestational-age-correlates-with-later-learning-difficulties/14465.html

New research published this week in PLos Medicine shows that there is a correlation between newborns' gestational age at delivery and the risk of special education needs later in life. This finding has important implications for the timing of elective Caesarean deliveries.

It is already well known that babies born prematurely are more likely to have special education needs later in life than babies born at full term. However, the risks of special educational needs in later life for babies born across a wide range of gestation has not previously been investigated.

Daniel MacKay and colleagues at the University of Glasgow's Section of Public Health analyzed the birth history of more than 400,000 Scottish children. Compared with children born at 40 weeks, children born at 37 to 39 weeks of gestation were 1.16 times as likely to have special educational needs. Although the risk of special educational needs was much higher in preterm than in early-term babies, because many more children were born early-term, they make up a larger portion (5.5%) of special needs kids than children born preterm (3.6%).

These results show that even a baby born at 39 weeks, which is the normal timing for elective deliveries - has an increased risk of special education needs compared with a baby born just a week later.