Preterm Births And Teen Pregnancy, Greater Risk For Infant Mortality

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi tops the national charts in infant mortality. Dina Ray, state director for the March of Dimes says premature births are the leading cause for infant moralities.

"If you are a diabetic, if you drink, smoke, do drugs, or are very overweight those are all things that can contribute to the possibility of having a preterm baby"

Eighteen percent babies in Mississippi are born prematurely and 20 percent of those are born to teenage mothers. One out of five babies born to teenagers are born premature and 14 out of 1,000 of those babies die before their first birthday.

"We like to educate teens about what it takes to be a healthy mom. To be a healthy mom you have to be healthy which means getting the right kind of prenatal care, take vitamins, and taking folic acids. One of the key problems with teem moms is that they do not tell anyone they are pregnant until they are pregnant for about six months. By that time they have missed out best part of prenatal care."

In a state where teen pregnancy, obesity, and poverty are at some of the highest rates in the country it is no wonder we top the nation in infant mortality.

Preterm Births and Teen Pregnancy, Greater Risk for Infant Mortality