The United States’ 9.6% preterm birth rate in 2014 earned a grade of C on the March of Dimes 2015 Premature Birth Report Card.
Although the United States ranks poorly among high-resource countries when it comes to preterm births, the organization said in a statement, the rate for 2014 was good enough to meet the March of Dimes 2020 goal, which was 9.6%. The organization has reset the goal to 8.1% of live births by 2020.
“Reaching our goal ahead of schedule is progress, but it is not victory – our work is far from done,” Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes, said in the statement.
Among the states, Oregon (7.7%), Vermont (7.9%), Idaho (8.1%), and Washington (8.1%) were the only ones to receive a grade of A. Mississippi (12.9%), Louisiana (12.3%), and Alabama (11.7%) were at the bottom of the class with Fs. Nineteen states earned a B, 18 states and the District of Columbia received a C, and six states received a D, according to final natality data for 2014 from the National Center for Health Statistics.
Among the 100 cities with the highest numbers of births, Portland, Ore., had the lowest preterm birth rate at 7.2%, while Shreveport, La., had the highest rate at 18.8%. The only other cities that earned an A were Oxnard, Calif.; Seattle;and St. Paul, Minn. A total of 17 cities received a grade of F.
“As our new list of city preterm birth rates highlights, many areas of the country, and tens of thousands of families, are not sharing in [the country’s] success. No baby should have to battle the health consequences of an early birth. All babies, everywhere deserve a healthy start in life,” Dr. Howse said.
