Indiana received a ?B grade for its low 11-percent rate of premature births in the 2014 March of Dimes report card.
Surrounding states received Cs for preterm birth rates between 11.3 and ?12.9 percent.
The organization’s goal is to reduce the national preterm birth rate to 9.6 percent or less by 2020, according to the report card. States with a preterm birth rate of 9.6 percent or lower received As.
“The United States spends more money per capita on health care than almost any other country in the world, and yet, our premature birth rate and our infant mortality rate are among the highest,” March of Dimes President Jennifer Howse said in a press ?release.
“The U.S. should aspire to be among the best globally in preterm birth rates and give all our children a healthy beginning.”
For the calculations on the report card, babies are considered premature if they’re born before 37 weeks of gestation.
Preterm babies may have more health problems such as anemia and infections at birth and develop long-term health problems.
Indiana decreased its preterm birth rate from 13.2 percent of babies in 2006 to 10.9 percent of babies in 2012, according to the ?report card, though Indiana’s rate rose back to 11 percent in 2013.
The report card shows a difference in preterm birth rates based on the mother’s race and ethnicity. Hispanic and white infants were born preterm at a rate of 10.2 and 10.3 percent, respectively, while Asian infants were born preterm at a rate of 9.4 percent and black infants at a rate of 15.2 percent.
March of Dimes wants state and federal governments to support funding and programs that would address the medical and social factors that cause disparity in preterm births, according to the report card.
March of Dimes suggests several preterm birth prevention strategies for states, such as increasing the ?proportion of women covered by health insurance. The organization also suggests preventing medically unnecessary caeserean sections and inductions before the 39th week of pregnancy.
The United States overall received a C grade, according to the report, because one in nine infants nationwide was born preterm ?in 2013.
“The U.S. still has one of the highest rates of preterm birth of any high-resource country, and we must change that,” Howse said in the release. “We are investing in a network of five prematurity research centers to find solutions to this still too common, costly and serious problem.”
Tori Fater
