Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

There is some good news for the women who are thinking about having a baby. According to the latest reports the rate of premature births has fallen for the 6^th consecutive year, reaching 11.5%, which is the lowest rate in the past 15 years.

Statistical Data

The main goal of health care professionals is to reach the 9.6% milestone. Last year this has been achieved by 6 states: Alaska, Maine, California, Oregon, New Hampshire, and Vermont. A birth is considered premature if the gestational age is less than 37 weeks.

General Information

The premature babies may face more health problems than the babies born on term. These include breathing problems, cerebral palsy, and developmental delays. In the same time this is the main cause of the death of newborns.

Cutting Costs

Compared to 2006, the number of premature babies decreased with 176,000 cases. Translated into numbers, this means savings to the government and the health care system of $9 billion. No matter how much the premature birth rate has decreased over the past few years, the average rating of the nation is still a “C”.

What do the Specialists have to say?

According to the health care providers, although great advancements have been made in this field, the U.S. still has the highest rate of preterm births of all the industrialized countries. It is important for the specialists to go on finding new ways to decrease the number of premies because all babies deserve to start life with the highest chances.

Social Concerns

Naturally it’s not only about the health of the babies, but this is a social problem. As an average, a premature birth costs 12 times the costs of the birth of a healthy baby. Nonetheless, the good news is that almost all states had a drop of premature births, but still, they are quite far from reaching the national goals.

Racial Differences

The highest rate of premature births has been in case of African American people. In this case the rate of preterm births is of 16.5%. However, there was a drop in this case as well, from 18.5% compared to 2006. This is the lowest rate in the past 20 years.

All women have to take good care of themselves during their pregnancy. Nonetheless, if you happen to have a premature birth you have to know that it’s not because of something you did or didn’t do.