march of dimes

Preterm birth rates improved in nearly every state between 2006 and 2009, but the United States still merited only a "C" on the March of Dimes' latest Premature Birth Report Card.

(March of Dimes Foundation) The first-ever comprehensive review of 50 years of studies has established that maternal smoking causes serious birth defects including heart defects, missing/deformed limbs, clubfoot, gastrointestinal disorders, and facial disorders, such as cleft lip/palate.

Smoking during pregnancy is a risk factor for premature birth and the March of Dimes urges pregnant women and those planning a pregnancy to quit smoking to reduce their chance of having a baby born prematurely or with a serious birth defect.

(March of Dimes Foundation) The United States received a "D" on the March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card, when national preterm birth rates are measured against the Healthy People 2010 goals.

The United States has a high rate of preterm birth compared to top scoring states and, notably, most industrialized countries.

Eight states earned a better grade on the third annual report card and 32 others and the District of Columbia saw their preterm birth rates improve.

(March of Dimes Foundation) The March of Dimes has committed another $2.6 million to support the work of six scientists for the next three years as they study the causes of preterm birth.

The 2010 grants bring the six-year total of the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Initiative grant program to nearly $20 million.

(March of Dimes Foundation) The March of Dimes established two new awards to honor the work of established scholars in perinatal ethics and to encourage young researchers to enter the field.

John D. Lantos, MD, director of the Children's Mercy Bioethics Center at Children's Mercy Hospital, was honored with the Distinguished Lectureship in Perinatal Bioethics.

Sarah Clark Miller, Ph.D., assistant professor of Philosophy at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, was named the Young Scholar Award in Perinatal Bioethics.

(March of Dimes Foundation) Some 13 million babies worldwide were born preterm and more than one million die annually as a result, according to the Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth, a White Paper by the March of Dimes, the World Health Organization's Department of Reproductive Health and Research, Save the Children USA, and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health.

The highest preterm birth rates are in Africa, followed by North America (United States and Canada).

(March of Dimes Foundation) The nation’s leading maternal-child and quality assurance health care experts will review and develop programs to help lower the nation’s costly preterm birth rate during a Quality Improvement Symposium, Oct. 8-9 in Arlington, Va.

Attendees will review existing programs that successfully lower cesarean section and induction rates and improve care and services for pregnant women and babies.

(March of Dimes Foundation) Eight maternal and child health information providers urged pregnant women to be vaccinated against both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu.

The organizations partnered to issue a joint statement because the H1N1 virus has proven to be especially dangerous to pregnant women.

A March of Dimes report says all 50 U.S. states now require testing of newborns for at least 21 or 29 genetic and metabolic disorders.