Giving birth early because of a medical problem is a necessity.
Giving birth early because it's more convenient for your mom to visit is not.
Fewer elective cesarean sections and fewer early inductions are two ways Florida could stop getting an F when it comes to the health of babies, one organization says.
The March of Dimes released its second Premature Birth Report Card on Tuesday. In it, Florida and 17 other states as well as Puerto Rico got the lowest grade possible for percentage of early deliveries.
The state has logged a 13.8 percent rate of premature births. The national rate of premature births was 12.7 percent, statistics through 2007 show.
The March of Dimes wants to get that number down to 7.6 percent.
The organization is focusing on three main contributors to early births: lack of insurance, smoking and choosing to give birth before 39 weeks of gestation.
"If we can control late preterm births, that would go a long way to helping the baby, the family and society," said Lewis Rubin, chief of neonatology at Tampa General Hospital.
In the March of Dimes report card, the nation received a D.
"Literally every week a baby is able to grow within their mother's belly and not be delivered early, the more the baby's brain is able to grow and develop, preventing unnecessary health problems at birth and potential future learning problems," said John Curran, a neonatologist at the University of South Florida.
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