BALTIMORE, Md. — For the second consecutive year, Maryland earned an “F” on the March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card but it showed improvement on criteria that can help give all babies a healthy start in life.
The March of Dimes released its second Premature Birth Report Care today, the seventh annual Prematurity Awareness Day®, when the March of Dimes focuses the nation’s attention on the growing problem of premature birth (birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy). Also for the second consecutive year, the United States earned only a “D” on the Report Card, demonstrating that more than a half million of our nation’s newborns didn’t get the healthy start they deserved. As in 2008, no state earned an “A” and only Vermont received a “B.”
“We’re proud of our hard work in insuring women of childbearing age and decreasing the number of women who smoke,” said Raymond Cox, M.D., Chair of the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore and chair of the March of Dimes Public Affairs Committee for Maryland. “We’re committed to working with state health officials, hospitals and health care providers to continue to fight for premature babies. We hope this is the beginning of a decline in our state’s preterm birth rate.”
Criteria that affect preterm birth improved in Maryland. The state earned stars for the following:
• reducing the percentage of women of child-bearing age who smoke
• reducing the percentage of uninsured women of child-bearing age
In Maryland, the rate of late preterm births is 9.4 percent. The rate of women smoking is 14.7 percent and the rate of uninsured women is 17.7 percent.
In the U.S., more than 540,000 babies are born too soon each year. Preterm birth is a serious health problem that costs the United States more than $26 billion annually, according to the Institute of Medicine. It is the leading cause of newborn death and babies who survive an early birth often face the risk of lifetime health challenges, such as breathing problems, mental retardation and others. A March of Dimes report released in October found that 13 million babies worldwide were born preterm and more than one million die each year.
Quality improvement programs are vital to lowering preterm birth rates, according to the March of Dimes. In Maryland, the March of Dimes conducts programs that have been shown to improve pregnancy outcomes such as Stork’s Nest, a cooperative project of the March of Dimes and the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Four Stork’s Nest programs in Central Maryland provide prenatal education and incentives for low-income pregnant women. The goal of Stork’s Nest is to improve the number of women who remain in prenatal care.
The March of Dimes also provides educational opportunities—grand rounds—for health care officials to learn more about prematurity issues. In addition, 15 Maryland county health departments participated in the national March of Dimes Quality Improvement to Prevent Prematurity Symposium last month in Arlington, Va. Progress is being made in Maryland: In 2007, the rate of premature births in Maryland decreased by one percent over 2006 figures.
Premature birth can happen to anyone. To learn more about premature birth and how to get involved with March of Dimes efforts, please visit marchofdimes.com/fightforpreemies.
The March of Dimes is the leading organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.
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