March of Dimes
Mission:
• To improve the health of babies by
preventing birth defects and infant
mortality
March of Dimes
Prematurity Campaign
A five-year, $75 million research,
awareness and education campaign to help
families have healthier babies.
Campaign Goals
1. Increase public awareness of the problems of
prematurity to a least 60% by 2007
2. Decrease the rate of preterm birth in the U.S. by
at least 15%.
From 11.9% (2001 data) to < 9.9
From 476,250 preterm babies (2001) to < 405,000
Five Aims of Prematurity Campaign
1. Raise public awareness
2. Educate pregnant women and
parents
3. Assist health practitioners to
improve premature birth risk
detection and address riskassociated factors.
4. Invest in research
5. Increase access to Care
Why Prematurity?
• Common, serious, costly medical burden
• Major risk factor for child illness & disability
• Nearly 50% of all premature Births have no known
cause.
• Second highest cause of infant death
• Rates increasing steadily over last 3 decades
Premature Birth
• Premature always means too early
• Premature often means too small
Current Definitions
• Birthweight
– Low birthweight: < 2500 grams or 5.5 lbs
– Very low birthweight: <1500 grams or 3.3 lbs.
• Gestational age
– Preterm: <37 completed weeks of pregnancy
(premature)
– Very preterm: <32 completed weeks of
pregnancy (very premature)
Major Risks for Prematurity
• Obstetric
Previous preterm birth
Multiples (twins, triplets)
Uterine and cervical infection
• Medical
• Behaviors
cigarette smoking, alcohol
use, illicit drugs use
during pregnancy
Diabetes, High Blood Pressure,
Clotting disorder, infections,
Obesity, severe stress, chronic
health problems in the mother
Prematurity Generates Substantial
Health Care Costs
• Maternity & related expenses: Often the largest
cost to employers’ health care plans
• In 2001, hospital charges for 26,000 infant stays
that were diagnosed with prematurity/low
birthweight totaled $1.9 billion, which average to
$75,000.00 per stay compared to $1,300.00 for
Uncomplicated new born stay.
¹Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, 2000
Primary Target Audiences
•
General Public
•
Pregnant Women
•
Health Care Providers
Awareness Messages for the
General Public
• Prematurity is a serious and common problem
• Only half the cases of preterm births have known
cause(s)
• Research holds the promise for prevention of preterm
births
• The March of Dimes is committed to finding the answers
Parent Education

Educate pregnant women on signs and symptoms of
preterm labor

Support parents in NICU with educational materials

Fund community programs focused on reducing risk
factors for prematurity
Professional Education
• Work in partnership with ACOG, AAP and AWHONN
• Collaborate with Health Professional
• Comprehensive risk detection and reduction
• Signs and symptoms of premature labor
•Provide professional education to doctors and nurses
• Advocate for programs to improve prematurity risk
detection
Research
• Increase March of Dimes research funding
• Advocate to increase research funding for
prematurity and related conditions
Access
• Support expanded access to health insurance to
improve pregnancy outcome.
What it Takes For Success:
• Multiyear commitment
• Partners and alliances
• Concurrent activities addressing all three target
audiences
• Incorporating the messages into everything we do
• YOU
How You Can Help
• Recruit Volunteer
• Participate in a fund-raising/chapter event
• Donate
• Spread the word
because………….
Premature Birth:
The answers can’t come soon enough
Summary of 2002 Preterm Birth Data from
the National Center for Health Statistics
March of Dimes Perinatal Data Center
January 2004
Overview
• In 2002:
– 4,021,726 live births
Preterm Births (<37 completed weeks)
– 480,812 preterm births
– 12.1% of live births
Very Preterm Births (<32 completed weeks)
– 77,845 very preterm births
– 2.0% of live births
Preterm and Very Preterm Births
United States, 1992-2002
Percent of live births
14
11.4 11.6 11.8 11.6 11.9 12.1
11.0
11.0
11.0
11.0
12 10.7
10
8
6
4
2
0
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
Very Preterm
Preterm is less than 37 completed weeks gestation.
Very preterm is less than 32 completed weeks gestation.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, final natality data
Prepared by March of Dimes Perinatal Data Center, 2004
Preterm
10.1
7.6
MOD
2007
Preterm Births
By Maternal Race/Ethnicity, U.S., 2001 & 2002
Percent of live births
20
17.6 17.7
15
10.8 11.0
11.4 11.6
11.9 12.1
Hispanic
All Races
10
5
0
Non-Hispanic
White
Non-Hispanic
Black
2001
2002
Preterm is less than 37 completed weeks gestation.
People of Hispanic ethnicity may be of any race.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, 2001 & 2002 final natality data
Prepared by March of Dimes Perinatal Data Center, 2004
Preterm Birth Rates by State
United States, 2002
U.S Rate = 12.1%
Percent of Live Births
Note: Value in ( ) = number of states (includes District of Columbia)
Value ranges are based on equal counts
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, 2002 final natality data
Prepared by March of Dimes Perinatal Data Center, December 2003
Over 12.6 (17)
11.4 to 12.6 (16)
Under 11.4 (18)
Change in Preterm Birth Rates by State
United States, 1992 to 2002
Percent Change from 1992 to 2002
Note: Value in ( ) = number of states (includes District of Columbia)
Value ranges are based on equal counts
Percent change has been rounded to the nearest whole number.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, 2002 final natality data
Prepared by March of Dimes Perinatal Data Center, December 2003
Increased 22 to 38% (15)
Increased 14 to 21% (16)
Increased 1 to 13% (19)
Declined
(1)
Change in U.S Rate = 13%
Summary
• In 2002:
– The number and rate of preterm births in the
United States continued to increase.
– While the non-Hispanic black preterm birth
rate was nearly twice the non-Hispanic
white rate, increases occurred among nonHispanic whites and Hispanics.
– Preterm birth rates and the percentage
change over the past decade vary widely by
state.