Press release
Strictly embargoed until 02 Feb. 2009 00.01 BST
New research reveals preterm birth costs England
and Wales almost £1 billion a year
The first ever UK investigation into the financial burden of premature birth by
Tommy’s, the baby charity at Oxford University’s Health Economics
Research Centre, has found that premature birth costs the UK economy a
staggering £939 million per year.
Key findings included:

The cost of premature birth to the UK is £939 million per year *

The cost on average of a preterm baby is one and a half times
more than a baby born full term**

Delaying all preterm birth by just one week could potentially
save £260million per year***
Tommy’s recommendations:

More funding for premature birth research now could save
billions of pounds over the years to come.

Identify women at high risk so they can receive targeted
treatment.

More research into methods for delaying or preventing
premature birth, such as delaying the contractions that start it.
Early studies in this area have shown real promise.
Jane Brewin, Tommy’s Chief Executive said:
“Given that the UK rate of premature birth is rising, this mammoth cost is set
to grow even larger. A plan must be developed which will target medical
research resources to reduce premature birth.
Whilst neonatal care has improved the likelihood of survival of babies born
preterm, we know that there are serious implications for some of these babies
such as chronic lung disease, haemorrhaging in the brain, eye problems,
digestive tract problems and increased risk of infection; leading to increased
risk of disability and lifelong problems
We are currently working with the Department of Health and a number of
other key stakeholders to implement strategic measures which would look to
reduce the rate of premature births in the UK.”
The study, published in Pediatrics Journal, was based on a literature review,
extensive research of current clinical practice and unit costs, as well as
consulting with leading clinicians. Researchers, Lindsay Mangham and Stavros
Petrou, used this information to produce a model which assigned a probability
and a cost to possible outcomes associated with premature birth, including
the need for neonatal care, mild disability, moderate disability, severe
disability and death.
Using these they were able to devise an average patient and associated cost
for each gestational age. As well as neonatal healthcare, which made up the
brunt of the expense, other costs like hospital readmissions, outpatient visits,
special education needs and social services costs were also considered.
The result was a robust model that could estimate the total cost of all preterm
babies born in 2006 over the first 18 years of their lives (in 2006 prices and
using a discount rate of 3.5%).
Professor Peter Brocklehurst, Director of the National Perinatal
Epidemiology Unit (NPEU), University of Oxford said:
“The extent to which the costs associated with preterm birth are an economic
burden has previously received little attention. These results emphasise the
importance of preventing preterm birth. We propose that more effort is
focused on preventing preterm birth in the UK and that research to prevent
premature birth continues to be a strategic priority.”
Along with the financial cost, the increase in babies born too early puts added
emotional strain on families who must deal with the lifelong consequences of
a baby born too soon.
While health and social care unit costs are well documented, costs in other
areas like special needs education, and costs incurred by families in caring for
preterm children, are less well reported.
Jane Brewin added:
“Existing research shows that the costs of preterm birth extend beyond
childhood into adult life, affecting, for example: educational attainment and
employability, length of employment and level of remuneration, adult illness
and criminality. These costs were not included in the study, which means the
cost could be even higher than currently reported.”
Tommy’s, the baby charity, funds three medical research centres across the
UK to investigate the cause of premature birth, miscarriage and stillbirth.
Currently in the UK 1 in 4 parents will lose a baby at some point during
pregnancy or birth. Tommy’s funds three medical research units across the
UK to investigate the causes of premature birth, miscarriage and stillbirth.
- ENDS For further information or to arrange an interview with Tommy’s spokespeople,
please contact:
Ben Ashmore bashmore@tommys.org or Kristy Macleod kmacleod@tommys.org
at Tommy’s Press Office on 020 7398 3440.
NOTES TO EDITOR
*How to calculate cost of premature birth: Incremental costs of pre-term birth
(Average cost per preterm birth minus average cost per term birth), giving extra cost
per preterm birth, multiplied by the number of preterm births. eg (£61391 – £41813)
x 47982 = £939 million (See table 1.)
**How to calculate difference in cost of fullterm and preterm baby: Average
cost per preterm baby divided by average cost per full-term baby. eg
£61391/£41813=1.47 (see table 1.)
***How to calculate cost of delaying preterm birth: This is done by supposing
that every baby born at 24 weeks was born at 25, and every baby born at 25 weeks
was born at 26 etc, so babies previously born at 36 weeks would now be born at 37
and not be considered preterm. The new volumes for each week were calculated,
multiplied by the cost associated with being born in that week and then summed to
give the total cost in this new scenario. By subtracting this from the total cost in
the old scenario a saving of just over £260m was calculated. (see table 2).
The cost of premature birth study was carried out by Ms Lindsay Mangham and Dr
Stavros Petrou at the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit & Health Economics
Research Centre, University of Oxford and was entirely funded by Tommy’s, the
baby charity.
Tommy’s, the baby charity
Tommy’s funds medical research into the causes of premature birth, stillbirth and
miscarriage, and provides an information service about health in pregnancy. By
2030 we want to halve the number of babies who die during pregnancy or birth.
Tommy’s medical research centres are located in:
London
Address: St Thomas' Hospital
London
SE1 7EH
Led by Professor Lucilla Poston
Manchester
Address: St Mary's Hospital
Hathersage Road
Manchester
M13 0JH
Led by Professor Colin Sibley
Edinburgh
Address: University of Edinburgh
Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health
51 Little France Crescent
Edinburgh
EH16 4SA
Led by Professor Jane Norman
TABLE1
SCENARIO 1 - 2006 REALITY
Number
of live
births
Gestational
Age
Avg Cost Per Live
Birth
Incremental
Cost
Total Incremental
Cost
Total Cost
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
231
598
666
809
881
1,141
1,106
1,523
1,805
2,670
3,740
5,954
9,333
17,525
£19,760
£62,347
£72,645
£83,663
£94,904
£98,544
£95,364
£95,316
£88,981
£83,902
£67,179
£60,437
£52,086
£49,029
-£23,456
£19,131
£29,429
£40,447
£51,688
£55,328
£52,148
£52,100
£45,765
£40,686
£23,963
£17,221
£8,870
£5,813
-£5,418,320
£11,440,380
£19,599,761
£32,721,680
£45,537,190
£63,129,328
£57,675,765
£79,348,407
£82,605,951
£108,631,807
£89,621,882
£102,534,251
£82,784,364
£101,874,053
£4,564,560
£37,283,506
£48,381,570
£67,683,367
£83,610,424
£112,438,704
£105,472,584
£145,166,268
£160,610,705
£224,018,340
£251,249,460
£359,841,898
£486,118,638
£859,233,225
All Pre-term
47982
£61,391
£19,578
£939,401,883
£2,945,673,249
Term
621,618
£41,813
N/A
N/A
£25,991,713,434
All Births
669,600
£43,216
N/A
N/A
£28,937,386,683
TABLE2
SCENARIO 2 - DELAYING EACH PREM BIRTH BY A WEEK
Number
of live
births
Gestational
Age
Avg Cost Per Live
Birth (as above)
Incremental
Cost (as above)
Total Incremental
Cost (1)
Total Cost (2)
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
0
231
598
666
809
881
1,141
1,106
1,523
1,805
2,670
3,740
5,954
9,333
£19,760
£62,347
£72,645
£83,663
£94,904
£98,544
£95,364
£95,316
£88,981
£83,902
£67,179
£60,437
£52,086
£49,029
-£23,065
£19,522
£29,820
£40,838
£52,079
£55,719
£52,539
£52,491
£46,156
£41,077
£24,354
£17,612
£9,261
£6,204
£0
£4,509,470
£17,832,069
£27,197,784
£42,131,518
£49,088,011
£59,946,445
£58,054,509
£70,294,848
£74,143,108
£65,023,883
£65,867,063
£55,137,102
£57,897,398
£0
£14,402,157
£43,441,710
£55,719,558
£76,777,336
£86,817,264
£108,810,324
£105,419,496
£135,518,063
£151,443,110
£179,367,930
£226,034,380
£310,120,044
£457,587,657
All Pre-term
30457
£64,073
£22,260
£677,960,488
£1,951,459,029
Term
639,143
£41,813
N/A
N/A
£26,724,486,259
All Births
669,600
£42,825
N/A
N/A
£28,675,945,288
SAVING (3)
£261,441,395
(1) Total incremental cost = number of live births x incremental cost
(2) Total cost = number of live births x average cost per live birth
(3) IE Saving from scenario 1 to scenario 2. So if all premature births could be delayed by one week we would save this much.