The preliminary data from 2008 says that the US rate of preterm births is 12.3%, down slightly from 12.8% in 2007.  The report card is based on the following indicators:

• Preterm Birth
• Late Preterm Birth
• Uninsured Women
• Pregnant Women Smoking

What’s a birth activist to do about prematurity?  There are lots of things that you can do and lots of areas to employ your skills.  The one many birth activists have attached themselves to is the late preterm births and preventing non-medical inductions prior to the 39 week mark.  But there are other things that can be done as well, including:

• Educate women on the signs and symptoms of preterm labor.
• Know what options are in your community for uninsured women and help women in this situation seek care.
• Find out about the resources in your community for pregnancy related smoking cessation. Tell every pregnant woman in your classes or who has hired you about them in a non-judgmental way.  You may not know who is smoking, nor do you necessarily need to know, but this information can also be passed along to people that they know who need it.  (Tomorrow is the Great American Smokeout.)
• Gather a resource packet for those who have contact with pregnant women and distribute it on some or all of these topics.  The March of Dimes has many great resources that are based on your state that can be easily emailed or printed for this purpose.

What are you doing in your community to address issues of prematurity?

• The U.S. late preterm birth rate rose 20% from 1990 to 2006. If the late preterm rate had not risen from the 1990 level, more than 50,000 fewer infants would have been delivered late preterm in 2006.
• On average, more than 900 late preterm babies are born every day in the United States, or a total of one-third of 1 million infants (333,461).
• Increases in late preterm births are seen for mothers of all ages, and for non-Hispanic white and Hispanic mothers.? The rate for black mothers declined during the 1990s, but has been on the rise since 2000.
• Late preterm birth rates rose for all U.S. states, but declined in the District of Columbia.
• The percentage of late preterm births for which labor was induced more than doubled from 1990 to 2006; the percentage of late preterm births delivered by cesarean also rose markedly.

Okay so what do you need to know about this? ?DON’T GET INDUCED.

Don’t do it for any of the following reasons:

• You are tired of being pregnant. (Your baby is still enjoying the ride.)
• You are uncomfortable. (Long, hard labors don’t make you comfortable.)
• You can’t sleep. (Sleeping in the NICU is hard too.)
• Your doctor is only on call on X date. (Then wait until baby picks their doctor.)
• Your mom has a plane ticket to visit on your due date. (Either change her flight or suck it up.)

Seriously how many sick babies have to be born before someone takes a stand and says enough? ?900 per day. That is a lot of babies who are greater risk of breathing difficulties, trips to the NICU, dying from SIDS, problems breastfeeding…

Surely you can stick it out a few more days or even a couple of weeks. Do it for your baby.