The preterm birth rate - that is, the percentage of infants born before 37 weeks gestation - fell to its lowest level in 17 years, according to the CDC. As the March of Dimes notes in its latest Premature Birth Report Card, that means the U.S. hit the federal Healthy People 2020 goal for preterm births seven years early.
But there's still plenty of work to be done. The March of Dimes has set a more aggressive goal of reducing the preterm birth rate to 9.6 percent by 2020, and gives the U.S. a "C" grade overall for its reduction efforts.
"The U.S. still has one of the highest rates of preterm birth of any high-resource country and we must change that," said March of Dimes President Dr. Jennifer L. Howse in a statement. In 2010, the U.S. ranked 131st out of 184 countries on preterm birth rate, according to a report by the World Health Organization. In that year our premature birth rate was the same as Somalia's.
Why the relatively high rate? One factor is insurance: the rate of preterm birth among uninsured women stands at 19.8 percent. To the extent that Obamacare allows more Americans to get health insurance, it will have the effect of reducing preterm births.
Another factor is that more women have been electing to have births by c-section earlier in their pregnancy terms, although the March of Dimesnotes that that trend seems to be reversing.
Some states are doing a better job of reducing preterm births than others. Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Oregon and California all had premature birth rates at or below the March of Dimes' 9.6 percent target, earning them an "A" grade in their report card. On the other hand, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi all had rates above 14.6 percent, earning them an "F." In Mississippi, nearly a quarter of births to uninsured mothers were premature.
Going forward, the March of Dimes is focusing on three strategies to reduce the rate even further: reduce the number of uninsured women, reduce the number of late-preterm births (those between 37 and 39 weeks), and reduce the incidence of smoking during pregnancy, which is linked to premature birth.
ya... if only everybody would just sign up to Obamacare all of the USA's health problems would be solved overnight... LOL
ReplyDeleteBrother what a bait and switch. Who are those 'uninsured' women? Teenagers and welfare Moms who are hooked on drugs and/or alcohol or tobacco.
ReplyDelete"...The rate of current illicit drug use in the combined 2012-2013 data was 14.6 percent among pregnant women aged 15 to 17, 8.6 percent among women aged 18 to 25, and 3.2 percent among women aged 26 to 44..... Among pregnant women aged 15 to 44 in 2011-2012, an annual average of 8.5 percent reported current alcohol use.... About one in six pregnant women aged 15 to 44 (15.9 percent) had smoked cigarettes in the past month, based on combined 2011 and 2012 data (Figure 4.5). This rate of past month cigarette use among women who were pregnant was lower than that among women who were not pregnant (24.6 percent). This pattern was also evident among women aged 18 to 25 (20.9 vs. 28.2 percent for pregnant and nonpregnant women, respectively) and among women aged 26 to 44 (12.5 vs. 25.2 percent, respectively)...."
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Pregnancy#sthash.b9VpMxMU.dpbs
And then there is nutrition. Many US women starve themselves or go on crazy diets to stay thin. On top of that is the effects of GMOs.
One two year peer reviewed study on rats showed that female groups developed breast tumors earlier and more frequently when fed GMO corn, and they died 2-3 times more than control groups. Female pituitary and hormonal balance was also disturbed by eating GMO food. Male rats fed GMO corn developed liver problems, and both sexes suffered highly significant kidney problems. Other animal studies have shown a decrease in fertility, as well as survival of young, among study groups fed GMO products.
http://www.enveurope.com/content/pdf/s12302-014-0014-5.pdf