babies are usually born at the end of 9 months , and there is a reason for that - it's harder to survive if you are born prematurely.
In addition to our system's aggressive treatment of premature infants, many doctors in the US are unwilling to let a mother come to full term if she shows signs of diabetes, or of some other serious complications, like a breach presentation. They will induce labor a few weeks early both to relieve the pressure on the mother's health and to allow them to better control the infant's health. This counts toward "premature" births, even though the child is fully formed. The US also has very high rates of Caesarian section delivery, mostly due to concerns for the mother and child, some well founded, some not so much. A lot of people in the US think this is a perverse reaction to our tort law, doctors will practice "defensive" medicine to avoid malpractice suits. On the other hand, if the Caesarian option had been available to my mother in the 1960's not only would I have been C-section birth but my older sister wouldn't have died during her delivery four years before.
Re: Not so fast...
In addition to our system's aggressive treatment of premature infants, many doctors in the US are unwilling to let a mother come to full term if she shows signs of diabetes, or of some other serious complications, like a breach presentation. They will induce labor a few weeks early both to relieve the pressure on the mother's health and to allow them to better control the infant's health. This counts toward "premature" births, even though the child is fully formed. The US also has very high rates of Caesarian section delivery, mostly due to concerns for the mother and child, some well founded, some not so much. A lot of people in the US think this is a perverse reaction to our tort law, doctors will practice "defensive" medicine to avoid malpractice suits. On the other hand, if the Caesarian option had been available to my mother in the 1960's not only would I have been C-section birth but my older sister wouldn't have died during her delivery four years before.