Ohio gets third consecutive ‘C’ grade for premature births

The March of Dimes has released its annual report card on preterm births and for the third consecutive year Ohio has been given a “C” (Source: “Ohio gets a C grade on March of Dimes 2013 Premature Birth Report Card for 3rd straight year,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 1, 2013).

Despite keeping the same grade in the March of Dimes grade card, Ohio did make progress in reducing the percentate of uninsured women of childbearing age who smoke and the percentage of infants born between 34 and 36 weeks.

Six states (Alaska, California, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont) received an "A" grade and three states (Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi) and Puerto Rico received a failing grade.

“Not only have we been able to impact and turn the tide, but we’ve been able to see sustained progress," Dr. Brian Mercer, chair of the department of obstetrics & gynecology at MetroHealth Medical Center, said of the state's small gains. "We would like to see premature births continue to decline. Though it’s not as much as I’d like to see, it gives us hope.”