Oregon, Portland Both Given High Marks By March of Dimes

Thursday, November 12, 2015

GoLocalPDX News Team

Oregon received an “A” grade from the March of Dimes as part of their 2015 premature birth report card and Portland was named the number one city in the country for premature births.

In Oregon, just under eight percent of babies delivered in the state were premature, good enough for one of four “A” grades given out by the March of Dimes. Washington, Idaho and Vermont also released an “A.”

States were graded based on 2014 state preterm birth rates from the March of Dimes, and how close they were to the organization's goal of a less than 8.1 percent preterm birth rate by 2020.

Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, President of the March for Dimes, said that “this aggressive goal can be achieved by increasing best practices in preconception and pregnancy care, wider use of proven interventions such as progesterone and birth spacing, and funding discovery research through our research centers.”

Portland had the best preterm birth rate of any of the top 100 cities with the most births nationwide and received an “A” grade as well. Oxnard, California, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Seattle, Washington also received “A” grades.

On a national scale, the United States earned a “C” grade with a preterm birth rate of 9.6 percent.

According to the March of Dimes, premature birth is the leading cause of infant death and the number one killer of babies.

“As our new list of city preterm birth rates highlights, many areas of the country, and tens of thousands of families, are not sharing in this success,” Howse said. “No baby should have to battle the health consequences of an early birth. All babies, everywhere deserve a healthy start in life.”

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Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo

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Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo

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Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo

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Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo

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Photo Credit: Oregon Zoo