Foreword: disparities in perinatal medicine: focus in infant mortality, stillbirth, and preterm birth.

摘要

Infant mortality, stillbirths, and preterm births are major public health priorities, having affected 28,527 infants in 2006, 25,894 fetuses in 2005, and 542,893 pregnancies in 2006, respectively. These numbers translate to an infant mortality rate of 6.7 deaths/1000 live births, a stillbirth rate of 6.2/1000 deliveries, and preterm births comprising of 12.8% of live births in the United States. The rate of preterm birth has been increasing each year, with a 20% increase since 1990 and accounting for more than half a million preterm births in the United States each year.