We must reduce preterm birth rate

Meeting the parents of a new baby for the first time in the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital is one of the most difficult moments for any practitioner or nurse.

Unfortunately, moments like these happen too often in our community.

On Nov. 1, we learned from the 2016 March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card that for the first time in eight years, the nation’s rate of preterm birth has worsened. Premature birth is the No. 1 killer of babies in the United States, and those who survive an early birth often face serious and lifelong health problems, including breathing problems, jaundice, vision loss, cerebral palsy, and intellectual delays. If the preterm birth rate had not increased, approximately 2,000 babies would have had a healthier birth.

Parents of premature infants often ask “why did this happen to my baby?” Often we do not have an answer for them. About half of the time, we don’t know the cause of premature birth.

Americans lead the world in medical research and care, yet the U.S. preterm birth rate still ranks near the bottom of high-resource nations. I know we can do better for babies nationwide and in Ohio.

Please join me in participating in Prematurity Awareness Month in November, a time when the March of Dimes focuses attention on efforts to fight premature birth. We must mobilize resources and raise our collective voices to drive best practices and ensure that these are adopted more widely. We can support innovative research sponsored by the March of Dimes to give more babies a fullterm, healthy start in life.

Learn more about what you can do at marchofdimes.org. There you will also find an interactive map of the U.S. and more facts about prematurity in Ohio. Richard McClead Associate chief medical director Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus