Washington State's Preterm Birth Rate Drops To Record 11-year Low

SEATTLE, Nov. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The March of Dimes announced today that the 11-year improving trend in Washington's preterm birth rate, helped give more babies a healthy start in life and contributed to the improvement in the national rate.

Washington's preterm birth rate was 9.7 percent in 2013, down from 11.0 in 2006, the year the state rate peaked. Washington again earned a B on the report card.

"We're proud of Washington's long-term improvement on the report card. Their success is a testament to the hard work of Washington's state and local health departments, our hospital partners, community partners and health care providers. It shows that when a health problem, as complex as preterm birth, is addressed with strong policies and bold leadership, babies benefit," said UW Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Thomas Benedetti, M.D., M.H.A.  "Through the March of Dimes' unique, team-based research projects we will continue the important work of discovering the unknown causes of preterm birth so more babies will get a healthy start in life."

The national preterm birth rate fell to 11.4 percent in 2013 meeting the federal Healthy People 2020 goal seven years early.  Despite this progress, the nation still received a "C" on the annual report card and still has one of the highest rates of preterm birth of any high resource country.

The March of Dimes is investing in a network of prematurity research centers, to find solutions to this still too-common, costly, and serious problem.

In Washington, the rate of late preterm births is 6.9 percent; the rate of women smoking is 16.4 percent, and the rate of uninsured women is 20.1 percent.

These factors contribute to improved infant health in Washington. The state earned a star on the report card for:

• Lowering the late preterm birth rate.
• Reducing the percentage of women of childbearing age who smoke.

These improvements mean not just healthier babies, but also a potential savings in health care and economic costs to society.

The March of Dimes attributed the improved rates to an expansion of successful programs and interventions, including actions by state health officials here and every other state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

"We will continue to work together to improve access to health care, help women quit smoking and, through our Healthy Babies Are Worth the Wait consumer education campaign, encourage women and health care providers to avoid scheduling a delivery before 39 weeks of pregnancy unless medically necessary," said March of Dimes State Director Jean Allenbach.

Grades are based on comparing each state's and the nation's 2013 preliminary preterm birth rates with the March of Dimes 2020 goal of 9.6 percent of all live births. The states that performed better than Washington are: Vermont (8.1 percent), California (8.8 percent), New Hampshire (9.0 percent), and Maine and Oregon (9.3 percent). 

The Report Card information for the U.S. and states will be available online at: marchofdimes.org/reportcard.

Multi-media information including b-roll can be found here:  http://www.multivu.com/players/English/65164-march-of-dimes-march-for-babies-2014/

Premature birth, birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, 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, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and others. Even babies born just a few weeks early have higher rates of hospitalization and illness than full-term infants.

On November 17^th, the March of Dimes and organizations from around the world will mark the fourth World Prematurity Day. The World Prematurity Network, (WPN), a global coalition of consumer and parent groups working together to raise awareness and prevent premature birth in their countries, is calling for action to prevent preterm birth and improve care for babies born too soon.  An estimated 15 million babies are born premature and of those more than a million die as a result of their early birth.

Learn more about Prematurity Awareness Month and World Prematurity Day by visiting http://www.facebook.com/worldprematurityday   

Prematurity Awareness events are happening throughout November here in Washington.

Details can be found at marchofdimes.org/Washington. 

• On November 11 at 12pm, at Deaconess Health and Education Center, West 910 5^th Ave, Spokane, WA, Dr. Benedetti will take local obstetricians, nurses, health educators, midwives and other health professionals through the latest updates in Progesterone treatment to prevent subsequent premature birth. Contact the Gina Legaz at 206-452-6638 for information regarding Grand Rounds. 
• On November 17, you can see Pacific Science Center's arches in Seattle shining in Purple light to symbolize hope for a healthy start for more babies. 

The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. For more than 75 years, moms and babies have benefited from March of Dimes research, education, vaccines, and breakthroughs. Find out how you can help raise funds to prevent premature birth and birth defects by walking in March for Babies at marchforbabies.org.  For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.org or nacersano.org. Find us on Facebook @marchofdimeswa and follow us on Twitter @marchofdimeswa. 

SOURCE March of Dimes