National Prematurity Awareness Month
About 1 in 10 babies are born preterm, or before completing the normal 37 to 40 weeks of pregnancy. These babies miss out on the important growth and development that happens in the final weeks. Preterm birth is a leading cause of infant mortality. Babies who survive can have short- and long-term health problems.
At this moment, we have a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of our forward momentum and reduce preterm births even further, but this means hard work at many levels.
We can’t do it alone. This National Prematurity Awareness Month, we invite all of our partners – future parents, pregnant women and everyone supporting them through their pregnancy, healthcare providers, public health professionals, and others – to learn about preterm birth and take action to prevent it.
![Hands and baby feet](https://cdn1.poz.com/78059_P12-18-025.jpg_4b6b3b75-a4cb-4a74-84a1-f91fc5420df5.jpeg)