On an Average Day in Texas

• 128 babies are born preterm
• 79 babies are born low birthweight
• 19 babies are born very preterm
• 14 babies are born very low birthweight
• 1 baby dies as a result of prematurity/low birthweight

Too Many Texas Babies Are Born Too Small or Too Soon

• In 2002, 46,816 infants were born preterm and 28,649 infants were born low birthweight.
• About 1 in 8 infants was born preterm (13.3% of all live births).
• About 1 in 13 infants was born low birthweight (7.7% of all live births).
• Most babies born too soon were also born too small.
  - More than 64% of babies born low birthweight were also preterm.
  - 36% of babies born preterm were also low birthweight.
• The “average” baby weighed 3276 grams (about 7 pounds 4 ounces).
• In 2002, 396 babies were born weighing less than 500 grams (1 pound, 1 ounce).
• The rate of preterm births increased 21% between 1992 and 2002 (11.0% to 13.3%).
• The rate of low birthweight increased 10% between 1992 and 2002 (7.0% to 7.7%).

African American and Hispanic Babies Are At Greater Risk

• The proportion of preterm infants born to African American mothers (18%) was 1-1/2 times as high as the rate for infants born to white mothers (12%).
• The proportion of low birthweight infants born to African American mothers (13%) was nearly twice the rate for infants born to white mothers (7%).
• The preterm birth rate among Hispanic infants ranged from 13.1% among Mexican and Central or South American infants to 15.9% for Other Hispanic infants.

Multiple Births Are At Greater Risk

• Multiple births are over 9 times more likely to be low birthweight and more than 5 times more likely to be preterm than are singleton births.
• At least half of all twin births and more than 97% of triplets and higher multiple births are low birthweight.

Younger and Older Mothers Are At Greater Risk

• More than 15% of births to teens ages 15-17 were preterm.
• Nearly 16% of births to women ages 35 and older were preterm (18% for women 40 years and older).

Texas Babies Struggle to Survive

• Prematurity/low birthweight was the:
  * second leading cause of infant death, accounting for 11% of deaths in the first year of life.
  * second leading cause of neonatal death, accounting for 18% of deaths in the first month of life.
  * second leading cause of death to African American infants, accounting for 14% of all African American infant deaths, compared to 10% of all white infant deaths.
• Preterm infants were 9 times more likely and very preterm infants were nearly 42 times more likely to die before their first birthday than were infants not born preterm.
  * 60% of infant deaths were to babies born preterm.
  * 76% of neonatal deaths were to babies born preterm.
• Low birthweight babies were more than 19 times more likely and very low birthweight babies were more than 81 times more likely to die before their first birthday than were babies not born low birthweight.
  * 62% of infant deaths were to babies born low birthweight
  * 80% of neonatal deaths were to babies born low birthweight

Definitions
Preterm *:  less than 37 weeks gestation
Very Preterm *: less than 32 weeks gestation
Low Birthweight: less than 2500 grams (5 ½ pounds)
Very Low Birthweight: less than 1500 grams (3 ½ pounds)
Neonatal Death: occurs from birth through 27 days

“Weeks gestation” was calculated without rounding to the nearest completed week.
Source: Texas Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics and March of Dimes Peristats