Fact Sheet - Prenatal Care Family physicians can and do play a critical role in the birth of healthy babies, whether or not their practice includes obstetrics. Good pre-pregnancy and prenatal care can help reduce the risk of certain birth defects. This month, the OAFP's Family Health Focus Series will provide information on care before, during and after pregnancy. Every hour, three babies die. African-American infants are more than twice as likely to die before their first birthday as are white infants.
Birth defects are the leading cause of infant mortality.
One in five infant deaths is due to birth defects. Every 3.5 minutes a baby is born with a birth defect. Every two minutes a low birth weight baby is born. Each day 415 babies are born to mothers who received late or no prenatal care. More than one in ten infants are born premature.