PREMATURITY
In the first of what will be an annual report card on preterm birth, the nation received a “D” and not a single state earned an “A,” when March of Dimes investigators compared actual preterm birth rates to the national Healthy People 2010 goal. According to the latest data from 2006, the preterm birth rate now stands at 12.8% percent, about 543,000 of babies born in the U.S. This is an increase from a rate of 12.1% in 2002.
There are huge economic consequences for our nation. In its 2006 report, the IOM states that the annual societal economic costs—medical, educational, and lost productivity—associated with preterm birth was at least $26.2 billion annually.
Following are some resources to help us understand why premature delivery rates are rising and what we can do to change this situation.
Behind International Rankings of Infant Mortality: How the United States Compares with Europe
Too Many Babies Born Before Their Time: The Growing Problem of Preterm Births
Kids Count, Annie E Casey Foundation
Geeta K. Swamy, MD Truls Østbye, MD, PhD Rolv Skjærven, PhD
Texas Centering Pregnancy Initiative
Karen Littlejohn, MMHSState Director of Program ServicesMarch of Dimes Texas Chapter
Katrina Thompson, BS, MSW
Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal and Child Health Bureau & CDC National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Prevention