Prematurity Awareness Month

Reducing the rate of preterm birth

Ten percent of babies born in the United States are born prematurely, placing them at higher risk for health problems and complications. Learn evidence-based strategies from NICHQ and partners to help reduce the rate of preterm birth in the U.S. and improve perinatal and infant health outcomes.
Pregnant Black woman having ultrasound exam during her monthly check up with her gynecologist

Equity & Preterm Birth

Ensuring ALL Families Have Resources to Carry Full Term

Medical professional attending to Black pregnant woman lying in hospital bed adjusting intravenous drip in medical setting with clipboard on wall and plants on windowsill

Ten percent of babies born in the United States are born prematurely, placing them at higher risk for health problems and complications. Learn evidence-based strategies from NICHQ and partners to help reduce the rate of preterm birth in the U.S. and improve perinatal and infant health outcomes.


Medical experts don’t know all the reasons that some babies are born prematurely, however, certain risk factors can increase the chance of preterm birth, including delivering a premature baby in the past, being pregnant with multiples, a short time (less than 18 months) between pregnancies, and tobacco use and substance abuse.
  • Support screenings that identify risk factors for preterm birth
  • Provide training to enhance patient, family, and community engagement
  • Improve access to progesterone, which can help alleviate premature births
  • Advance education about the risks of nonmedical early elective delivery

Shapiro-Mendoza CK, Barfield WD, Henderson Z, et al. CDC Grand Rounds: Public Health Strategies to Prevent Preterm Birth. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:826–830. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6532a4

NICHQ INitiatives

Our Preterm Birth Work

Preterm birth, a leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity, disproportionately affects Black and Indigenous mothers and babies. Learn helpful strategies for reducing preterm birth rates from NICHQ’s evidence-based projects.

Supporting Healthy Start Performance Project

Healthy Start is a community-based federal program seeking to eliminate disparities in infant mortality and perinatal outcomes by working to improve systems of community care in communities with infant mortality rates at least 1.5 times the U.S. national average.

Learn more about this project

National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives

NICHQ works to enhance the coordination and communication of perinatal quality collaboratives across the nation, with the ultimate goal of improving health outcomes for mothers and newborns.

Learn more about this project

Community-Centered Hospitals Initiative (CCHI)

The Community-Centered Hospital Initiative (CCHI) aims to address the stark and persistent disparities in the health outcomes of mothers, birthing people, and infants by strengthening collaboration and power-sharing between communities and hospitals.

Learn more about this project

Maternal Health Action & Resource Center (MHARC)

The newly established Maternal Health Action & Resource Center (MHARC) will provide capacity building assistance (CBA), training, and technical assistance (TTA) to State MHI and other HRSA MCHB award recipients. This center will broadly share and disseminate information about evidence-based strategies and guidance with the purpose of enhancing and strengthening recipients’ ability to improve maternal health outcomes and reduce the significant disparities faced by certain populations.

Learn more about this project

UHC Catalyst Initiative: Infant Health Equity

By convening and coordinating the complementary initiatives of Healthy Start and UHC’s Catalyst Center, this project will seek to demonstrate that aligning this work and leveraging resources can identify opportunities to accelerate progress toward equity by successfully identifying and addressing social needs among Healthy Start participants and increasing utilization of services.

Learn more about this project
LEARN WITH NICHQ

Tools to Improve your Practice

Reducing Preterm Birth

Webinar on data collected as part of IM CoIIN to improve birth outcomes and decrease infant morality rates.

Watch now

Preventing Preterm Birth Through Progesterone

Overcoming barriers to help moms access treatments that reduce the risk of preterm births.

See more

Podcast logo for Before Birth and Beyond: Improving Care in MCH with NICHQ.
S1E8 Connecting Infant and Maternal Health Outcomes

In honor of Prematurity Awareness Month, we’re reflecting on the links between maternal and infant health, and the impacts of preterm birth on health outcomes for mothers, birthing people, and babies.

Listen now

Harnessing the Power of Collaboration to Improve Outcomes for Families Affected by Substance Use Disorder in Pregnancy

Webinar on implementing Plans of Safe Care (POSC) to support infants, parents, and caregivers affected by substance use disorder.

Watch now

Publications

Appropriate Use of Progesterone to Prevent Preterm Birth: Approaches to Measurement for Driving Improvement

Despite strong evidence supporting the benefit of 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17P) in preventing recurrent preterm birth, this treatment still does not reach most eligible patients. This study sought to identify approaches to measuring the appropriate use of 17P, with the goal of helping health systems better monitor and improve the implementation of this intervention.

Discussion

A variety of imperfect measures for the appropriate use of 17P are available. No “best” measure was identified—the optimal measurement option must fit the specific needs of a health agency. Better data infrastructure and harnessing information from integrated electronic health records could improve the quality of 17P use measurement for improvement efforts.

View Publication

NICHQ News

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Additional Articles & Resources

CDC Preterm Birth Resources

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put together a collection of resources to help raise awareness about preterm birth, factors that may increase the likelihood of delivering early, and strategies to help prevent preterm birth.

March of Dimes Report Card

The 2024 March of Dimes Report Card highlights factors contributing to maternal and infant mortality and morbidity. For the third straight year, the U.S. has received a D+ for its preterm birth grade with more than 370,000 preterm births in 2023.

Save the Date

Weekly Observances

Five distinct weeks are celebrated during Breastfeeding Awareness Month.

  • August 1-7: World Breastfeeding Week
  • August 8-14: Indigenous Milk Medicine WeekAugust 8-14
  • August 15-21: Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week
  • August 25-31: Black Breastfeeding Week
  • September 5-11: Semana de la Lactancia Latina