"The Pink Kitchen Sink in the Livingroom."

I've also sent this to the big cheeses at TIME Magazine. Here are some, with their email addresses. [UPDATE: It's now been 24 hours and not one has bounced back, so it appears I guessed right and they are all valid email addies]

John Huey, Editor-in-Chief
James Kelly, Managing Editor
Ann S. Moore, Chairman, CEO
Nora P. McAniff, Co-Chief Operating Officer
Richard Stengel, Managing Editor
Adi Ignatius, Executive Editor
Priscilla Painton, Executive Editor
Philip Elmer-Dewitt, Sciences Editor
Angela K. Thornton, Deputy Director, Research Center

John_Huey@timeinc.com ; James_Kelly@timeinc.com ; Ann_Moore@timeinc.com ; Nora_McAniff@timeinc.com ; Richard_Stengel@timeinc.com ; Adi_Ignatius@timeinc.com ; Priscilla_Painton@timeinc.com ; Philip_Elmer-Dewitt@timeinc.com ; Angela_Thornton@timeinc.com

If TIME Magazine had even one, little, amateur, volunteer researcher like myself, they could have known most of this already when I did, about two years ago.

Don't they realize how foolish they look?

November 20, 2006

Editors, TIME Magazine

Dear Mssrs.,

TIME's article in the November 20, 2006 issue ("Ahead Of Their Time: How doctors are rethinking the growing problem of preterm births--by focusing on the moms, not the babies" by COCO MASTERS / LEXINGTON) on determining the factors contributing to the increase in premature births left one factor completely out of its research.

Seven peer-reviewed research studies published in respected medical journals including Human Reproduction (March 2004), British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (April 2005), Obstetrics & Gynecology (Dec. 1999), International Journal of Epidemiology (2000), American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (1981), New England Journal Of Medicine (1986) and UK's Lancet (1983) have found that prior induced abortion "increases the risk of preterm births, particularly extremely preterm deliveries."

Researchers found that "women who reported having previous abortions [more than one] had a 70% higher risk of delivering an infant before 28 weeks gestation, compared with women who had never had an abortion." Those with at least one prior abortion almost doubled the risk of giving birth "very prematurely" [defined as born before 33 weeks gestation].

There are more similar findings in these seven studies than you have room to print, so I'm including citations and excerpts from the actual journals or from The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

I hope TIME agrees that we women have a right to know these risks up front. Don't you think it's "TIME" to make us aware of them? So much for the March of Dimes referring to its misnamed diagnostic effort as the "kitchen-sink approach." A more apt phrase for this determined effort to ignore a serious factor would be "the pink kitchen sink in the livingroom."

Sincerely,

Annie Banno

CITATIONS FOR EDITORS' BENEFIT:

1) "History of induced abortion as a risk factor for preterm birth in European countries: results of the EUROPOP survey," Human Reproduction (2004 Mar), Ancel PY, Lelong N, Papiernik E, Saurel-Cubizolles MJ, Kaminski M; EUROPOP. Vol. 19, No. 3, 734-740.

2) Moreau C, Kaminski M, Ancel PY, Bouyer J, Escande B, Thiriez G, Boulot P, Fresson J, Arnaud C, Subtil D, Marpeau L, Roze JC, Maillard F, Larroque B; EPIPAGE Group; "Previous induced abortions and the risk of very preterm delivery: results of the EPIPAGE study." BJOG. 2005 Apr;112(4):430-7.

Also reported here and here.

3) Zhou, Weijin, et. al., "Induced Abortion and Subsequent Pregnancy Duration", Obstet. Gynecol (Dec. 1999), 94(6):948-953.

4) Weijin Zhou, Henrik Toft Sørensen, and Jørn Olsen, "Induced abortion and low birthweight in the following pregnancy", International Journal of Epidemiology (2000); 29:100-106.

5) Barrett, et al., "Induced Abortion: A Risk Factor for Placenta Previa", Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1981 Dec 1;141(7):769-72.

The last two studies showed that major lacerations of the cervix which require stitches happen in at least 1% of first trimester abortions. This means that at least 12,600 US women having surgical abortions yearly need cervical stitches (About 1.4 million U.S. women have abortions annually. Planned Parenthood says 90% of all abortions are first trimester).

Lesser tears, normally not treated, can also result in cervical incompetence, premature delivery, and complications of labor. It stands to reason that larger tears requiring stitches would as well.

And the risk of cervical damage is greater for teenagers and for second trimester abortions.

6) W. Cates, "The Risks Associated with Teenage Abortion", New England Journal of Medicine 1983 Sep 15;309(11):621-4.

7) K. Schulz, et al., "Measures to Prevent Cervical Injuries During Suction Curettage Abortion", The Lancet (May 28, 1983), pp. 1182-1184.