Many weigh less than 5 pounds and are considered to be low birthweight babies. Babies who are born too soon or are too small are at risk for a number of health problems. Often, their lungs aren t fully developed, increasing the risk for breathing problems and respiratory distress syndrome. Very tiny babies often don t have enough fat to regulate their body temperature. Despite improvements in healthcare, the rate of preterm birth continues to increase in the U.S. by 17 percent since the early 1980 s.
Doctors know certain risk factors can increase the risk of preterm labor.
Some of those include being younger than 17 or older than 35, being pregnant with two or more babies, having had a previous preterm infant, performing strenuous activity at work, and having had three or more abortions. Black women are twice as likely as whites to experience preterm labor. Many women who give birth prematurely don t have any of the known risk factors. So, the March of Dimes has launched the Perinatal Epidemiological Research Initiative, providing grants to researchers working to understand some of the factors which may contribute to preterm labor. Some aspects of study include the role of stress, socioeconomic status, effects of racism and violence, maternal infections, and genetic predisposition.