Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Preterm Births Rose In The U.S. For Third Year In A Row
NPR: Why Are Premature Birth Rates On The Rise Again?
The rate of premature birth across the United States rose for the third year in a row, according to the annual premature birth report card from March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization that works to improve maternal and infant health. This comes after nearly a decade of decline from 2007 to 2015. In 2017, the premature birth rate was 9.93 percent of births, up slightly from 2016, when it was 9.85 percent. The report card draws from the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. (Chatterjee, 11/1)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: March Of Dimes Report Shows Ongoing Preterm Birth Struggle In City, County And State
The high percentage of babies born premature in Cleveland placed the city second to last of big cities in the nation, according to the March of Dimes annual report released today. The city’s rate of 14.4 percent is an improvement over the previous year, when the city ranked last, but is still more than two-and-a-half times that of the best ranked city, Irvine, California, at 5.5 percent. (Zeltner, 11/1)
