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» A magazine for and about Oregon Community Hospitals.
For the sixth year in a row, Oregon earned an “A” grade for keeping its pre-term birth
rate low. Oregon was one of only four states to receive top marks on the March of
Dimes 2016 Premature Birth Report Card.
Oregon’s pre-term birth rate was 7.6 percent in 2015, well
below the March of Dimes national goal of 8.1 percent.
Other states that received an “A” are Washington, Vermont
and New Hampshire.
Premature birth, defined as less than 37 weeks gestation,
poses serious risks, including lifelong breathing and vision
problems, cerebral palsy and intellectual delays. In some
parts of the country, it remains common practice for doctors
to agree to patient requests to deliver their babies before 39
weeks (considered “term”), even though it isn’t medically
necessary. These premature births are classified as early
elective deliveries.
Since 2012, all of Oregon’s community hospitals that
provide birth services adopted a resolution to eliminate
early elective deliveries. To bolster the effort, OAHHS joined
a large group of physicians, nurses, quality leaders, March
of Dimes, and other health care providers to form the
Oregon Perinatal Collaborative. The group works together to
improve outcomes for women and babies across Oregon.
March of Dimes has set a 2030 goal of a
national preterm birth rate of 5.5 percent.
The newest report card shows that more work needs to
be done, as the nation’s overall preterm birth rate
worsened for the first time in eight years. The nation
MARCH OF DIMES PREMATURE
BIRTH REPORT CARD