November is National Prematurity Awareness Month, an opportunity to reflect on the nearly 400,000 babies born preterm each year in the United States and what we can do to prevent it.
We don’t understand all the reasons some babies are born too soon. Even women who appear to do everything “right” can deliver too early.
But we do know that some factors increase the risk of preterm birth: young or advanced age of the mother, cigarette or substance abuse, stress, depression, and carrying more than one baby.