Preterm Birth Briefer

Babies are considered to be preterm when born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy are completed. Over 80% of premature babies are born between 32 and 37 weeks of gestation. Most newborn deaths among this group are caused by lack of simple, essential care such as warmth and feeding support.

The burden of preterm birth is substantial for many developing countries, and scale up of some low-tech, cost-effective interventions can help to reduce newborn deaths from prematurity. Reducing the burden of preterm birth has two main elements: prevention and care.

Prevention
Interventions that are proven to help prevent preterm birth are clustered in the preconception, between pregnancy, and pregnancy periods, as well as during preterm labor.

Treatment
Interventions to reduce death and disability among premature babies can be applied both during labor and after birth. If interventions with proven benefits were universally available to women and their babies (i.e., 95% coverage), almost 1 million premature babies could be saved each year.