Nebraska receives a ‘D’ on premature birth report card

Carl Smith, M.D.

For the second consecutive year, Nebraska earned a “D” on the annual March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card. The state, however, showed improvement in lowering the late preterm birth rate.

Also for the second consecutive year, the United States earned only a “D” on the report card. As in 2008, no state earned an “A” and only Vermont received a “B.”

The March of Dimes released the second annual report card on Tuesday, the 7th Annual Prematurity Awareness Day.

“Here in Nebraska we are proud of our hard work in late preterm birth rate and we hope that it will be the start of a decline in our preterm birth rate,” said Carl Smith, M.D., March of Dimes chapter board chairman, medical director of the Olson Center for Women’s Heath and professor and chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology.

More about the March of Dimes The March of Dimes is the leading organization for pregnancy and baby health. Visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org for more information.

In Nebraska, the rate of late preterm births is 8.5 percent, the rate of women who smoke is 20.3 percent and the rate of uninsured women is 15 percent.

In the United States, more than 540,000 babies are born too soon each year.

Preterm birth — the leading cause of newborn death — costs the United States more than $26 billion annually, according to the Institute of Medicine.

Babies who survive an early birth often face the risk of lifetime health challenges, such as breathing problems and mental retardation.

A March of Dimes report released in October found that 13 million babies worldwide were born preterm and more than 1 million die each year.