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Washington State Knowledge Of Prematurity Lags Behind Nation
01-Nov-03 |
Although 56% of people in Washington State said that they know someone who was born prematurely, only 21% said that they considered premature birth to be a very serious problem for society. The March of Dimes says this underscores the need for efforts to call attention to the growing epidemic of premature birth.
In Washington State, respondents ranked the issue of prematurity as less important than respondents in other states…with only 21% ranking prematurity as a “very serious” health issue. In contrast, 29% of respondents nationally ranked prematurity as “very serious”. Also nationally, prematurity was most important to females and less-educated respondents.
Surprisingly, respondents in Washington State were slightly more likely than respondents nationally to know someone who has had a premature birth. 56% of Washington State respondents reported having, or knowing someone who had a baby prematurely, while the national number of people responding positively was 55%.
On January 30 of this year, the March of Dimes launched a $75 million, five-year national prematurity campaign. The campaign’s goals are be to increase awareness of the growing problem and decrease the rate of premature birth. In 2001, more than 476,000 babies, or nearly 12 percent of live births, were born too soon -- before 37 completed weeks – in the U.S. Many of those babies are born with serious health problems, from cerebral palsy and mental retardation to blindness. Prematurity has also been identified as the leading cause of neonatal death (within the first month of life) in the U.S.
In Washington State, the rate of infants born prematurely in Washington State increased 13% between 1990 and 2000, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. In 2000, the rate of premature birth rose to 9.5 percent. In the year 2000, 7,595 babies were born prematurely, representing 9.5% of all births in our state that year.
The rate of premature birth in our state is highest for African Americans (13.8%), followed by Native Americans (13.4%), Asians (10.1%) and Whites (9.1%). The rate of premature birth in Washington among Hispanics is 9.9% (people who are Hispanic may be of any race).
The March of Dimes goals are to increase public awareness of the problem of prematurity from 35 to 60 percent, and to decrease the rate of preterm birth by at least 15 percent.
The March of Dimes is a voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies. For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at www.marchofdimes.com, its Spanish language Web site at www.nacersano.org, or call 1-888-MODIMES. |
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