WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. preterm birth rate declined to 11.99 percent last year, the fourth year of decline, but one out of every eight babies was born too soon, officials say.
Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes, in White Plains, N.Y., said the report by the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the decline in the 2010 preterm birth rate is a 6 percent drop from the high of 12.8 percent in 2006.