For the first time, Oregon has the lowest premature birth rate in the country, earning an “A” grade from March of Dimes.
Oregon’s preterm birth rate was 7.7% last year, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. That’s better than March of Dimes’ 2020 goal of 8.1%. Additionally, Portland has the lowest rate of 100 U.S. cities with the greatest number of births.
March of Dimes spokeswoman Michele Larsen says the group focused on improving the quality of maternal care, funding smoking cessation programs and timing.
Larsen: “The birth spacing is something we’ve been working on educating through providers. So, talking to doctors and OB’s around the state and having them talk to their patients about how optimal spacing – which is, like, 3 years between children – can really help to reduce some of that preterm birth.”
Premature birth is the number one cause of death for infants. While Oregon did well in the general category of lowering preterm births, there are still large gaps amongst different racial and ethnic groups in the state.
Anni Katz, KLCC News.