According to a new study led by the University of California, San Francisco, preterm births in the United States are on the rise, particularly among low-income Black mothers.
In an examination of more than five million births in the United States between 2011 and 2022, the study authors found the overall rate of preterm births rose from 6.8 percent to 7.5 percent. When broken down by socioeconomic status and racial background, stark disparities emerged. Black mothers with public insurance, such as medicaid, were the most likely group to experience a preterm birth at a rate of 11.3 percent. This is significantly higher than the 5.8 percent rate found among White mothers with private insurance. The preterm birth rate among Black women with private insurance slightly decreased over the same time period, but remained significantly higher than that of White women.
The authors stress that their findings point towards an urgent need to improve care for pregnant women of color, particularly those from low-income families. In their analysis, the authors found that when low-income mothers received prenatal care and nutritional support, their rate of experiencing a preterm birth decreased. The authors urge public health leaders use their findings to promote these support programs to vulnerable groups, thereby improving reproductive health and addressing the persistent disparities of preterm births in America.
In addition to the University of California, San Francisco, the study authors included scholars from the University of California, San Diego, Stanford University, the University of California, Los Angeles, California State University, Northridge, New York University, Indiana University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
