Date of Award

1994

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Health Management

First Advisor

Daniel W. Kemper

Second Advisor

Betty LeMasters

Third Advisor

Cindy Plummer

Abstract

This thesis will focus on the incidence of premature births and how to reduce the frequency and costs associated with premature delivery. The emphasis is towards the development of a wellness program within a corporation which will accomplish these objectives within its population of female employees.

Research has shown that many of these premature births could be prevented if five major factors were controlled through health education and lifestyle changes. The five risk factors that increase the possibility of delivering prematurely are: lack of exercise prior to pregnancy, alcohol intake, cigarette smoking, increased stress levels, and use of harmful drugs, legal and illegal. These are the risk factors that can be controlled through behavioral changes, and waiting until one is pregnant rs sometimes too late.

Due to the ability for a female to plan for pregnancy by using artificial contraceptives and monitoring one's monthly cycle, females may now take a more proactive approach to preparing for pregnancy. Rather than reacting to an emergency situation involving complications in pregnancy, females may use preventative measures to avoid the short-term and long-term effects of a premature birth. Not only do preventative measures help the female, but they help the company as well by decreasing costs associated with premature births.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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