The March of Dimes is unveiling its first "premature birth state report card" for California today, a report that will show that the nation's most populous state has a middling record of premature birth.
Officials from the March of Dimes and Sutter health will make the report public this morning at Sutter Memorial Hospital in east Sacramento, marking the sixth annual Prematurity Awareness Day. The observance is an effort by the March of Dimes to increase attention and understanding of premature birth, a Sutter Health news release states.
The report outlines prematurity rates by county. It shows that California ranks ninth in the nation in terms of preterm birth rates, primarily because of increasing rates of unnecessary early c-sections and induced labor, lack of insurance and smoking during pregnancy.
Babies are considered premature when born before 37 weeks gestation, the release states.
More than 530,000 babies are born premature each year in the United States, according to the March of Dimes, and premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death and a major cause of lifelong disability, the release states.
California's preterm birth rate is 10.7 percent, ninth in the nation, the March of Dimes' Web site states. The state got a "C" on its premature birth rate report card.
Alabama has the worst preterm birth rate, 16.7 percent, and has been ranked 50th in the country.
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