1. Megan Owen
Biology 114
November 24, 2010
Recent research has shown that babies born prematurely may be at a greater risk of
developing mental illnesses, the most prevalent being autism. More and more babies are being
born prematurely. The rate of premature births has gone up 40% since 1980. This could be the
result of something the mom did or could happen naturally. Once these premature babies are
born, the hospital immediately tries to replicate the womb to keep the baby as safe as possible.
Though most of these babies grow up and develop as they should, not all babies are unaffected
by not being in the mother’s womb for the full forty weeks (Interlandi 2010).
Doctors have come up with many possible reasons for more babies being born
prematurely. Some of these are women having babies later in life, doctors pushing for Caesarean
sections, and more couples using in vitro fertilization. Even if women do not encounter any of
these things, some will still deliver their baby earlier than she should (Interlandi 2010).
There has been a lot of research put into how to prevent the birth of premature babies and
how to best care for them once they no longer have the placenta around them giving them
everything that they need. Though they have made advances in how to treat “preemies,” there is
still no recommended method to prevent the mother from entering labor early (Interlandi 2010).
As mentioned earlier, once the baby is born prematurely, they are put into an
environment that is similar to the womb. Though this womb-like environment helps to save a lot
of babies, not even the best hospital can give the premature baby everything that the mother’s
womb could. Some things that could result from this include conditions such as cerebral palsy,
mental retardation, and autism. Conditions like this can take years to show up causing more
problems in the long run (Interlandi 2010).

2. Doctors have suggested that the baby not having the placenta around them for the forty
weeks with the chemicals needed to develop being diffused through them directly to the baby
may have a direct affect on these preemies. Some important things that are diffused though the
placenta are nutrients, oxygen, and hormones. These give the infant everything that it needs to be
able to develop fully. Once the baby is no longer receiving these essential chemicals from its
mother, crucial parts of development can be slowed or stopped resulting in these conditions
(Interlandi 2010).
Doctors have found two important chemicals that are diffused into the placenta late in
pregnancy that are crucial for development of the brain: oxytocin and progesterone. Oxytocin has
been found to keep fetal neurons from over-exciting and dying while progesterone helps nerve
cells grow. Further research has shown that oxytocin has also been “implicated” in autism. Low
oxytocin is linked to “social and behavioral difficulties” which is prevalent in autistic children
(Interlandi 2010).
This article is mostly backed up by other scientific studies and I agree with it. When
researching autism, I found a lot about the lack of oxytocin found in the patient. To treat autism,
doctors are giving their patients doses of oxytocin which was found to help their symptoms.
They found that the oxytocin “reduced their fear of others and promoted closer social
relationships” (Michel-Ange 2010). In the experiment, the child with autism was to play a game
of toss with three other kids. Every time the ball got passed to you, you made money. The other
three kids all had different personality traits that they were supposed to show during the game.
One player always returned the ball to the patient, one never returned the ball to the patient, and
the other did not discriminate between the patient and the other players (Michel-Ange 2010). The
patient who did not get the dose of oxytocin returned the ball to all the players without

3. discrimination while the patient who took the dose of oxytocin would return the ball to the player
that would return the ball back to him/her. This article shows how important oxytocin is to the
brain and how it is a major part of autism. Without the hormone, children are less social and have
a hard time communicating. This supports my main article that oxytocin can affect children and
not having enough can cause a greater risk of autism.
The statement that oxytocin is released more so late in the pregnancy was accurately
supported in other online articles. An article titled “Oxytocin and the Impact of Pregnancy”
stated that this hormone is released closer to the birth of the baby and it also helps the mother’s
body change and be able to deliver the baby after the forty weeks.
When researching progesterone during pregnancy, I found information that backed up
what was said in the original article. One website talked about how much progesterone was
produced during pregnancy and when it is released. It said, “to protect the fetus, the progesterone
levels during pregnancy then rise to as much as 10 to 15 TIMES normal amounts by the third
trimester. In other words, the progesterone levels during pregnancy can be as much as 300mg to
400mg per day” (Safe Menopause Solutions). This supports the part of the article that says
progesterone is diffused into the placenta more so late in the pregnancy.
The statement that progesterone is important to brain development in infants while still in
the womb was also supported by an article online. This article came from Vetcite and said that
“progesterone receptors clearly influence neuronal development.” This also influences the
central nervous system. These two articles confirm that 1) progesterone is released the more so
late in pregnancy and 2) that progesterone affects how the brain develops.
With all the articles that I found backing up my main article, I agree with the main article.
All the information about autism and what is thought to cause it stating that people who have

4. autism show decreased levels of oxytocin supports my main article along with when
progesterone and oxytocin are released in the mother’s body then diffusing through the placenta
and directly to the baby. As supported by other articles, the baby being delivered prematurely
can put them at risk for not getting enough progesterone and oxytocin causing a slow in brain
development (Cadena 2007).
As of now, doctors have not found a way to give these vital nutrients to the baby once
they are out of the womb so these babies will still be at risk for developing autism or other
mental illnesses. Until the doctors find a way to treat these premature babies and give them
everything that the placenta gives them, they will not develop the same as the babies that are in
the womb for a full forty weeks. Until doctors find a way to treat them, premature babies will
still be at a higher risk of developing autism.

5. Works Cited
Cadena, Christine. 2007. Oxytocin and the impact on pregnancy: how oxytocin impacts
pregnancy and birthing processes. Associated Content (February 6),
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/132217/oxytocin_and_the_impact_on_pregnancy_pg2.
html?cat=71.
Delegation Paris Michel-Ange. 2010. Autism: oxytocin improves social behavior in
patients, study finds. ScienceDaily (February 17),
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100216221350.htm.
Interlandi, Jeneen. 2010. What premature births can teach us about autism. Newsweek
(October 24), http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/24/what-premature-births-can-teach-us-about-
autism.html.
Maternal progesterone influences fetal brain development. (2002). Vetscite (April 24).
http://www.vetscite.org/publish/items/000532/index.html.
What are normal progesterone levels during pregnancy and how to raise progesterone
levels naturally? Safe Menopause Solutions.
http://www.safemenopausesolutions.com/progesteronelevelduringpregnancy.html.
Similarity Index 7%
3% match (Internet from 9/15/10)
http://www.safemenopausesolutions.com
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2% match (student papers from 09/23/10)
Submitted to Boston University
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1% match (student papers from 03/16/10)
Submitted to CSU, Dominguez Hills
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1% match (Internet from 8/20/10)
http://www.sciencedaily.com