Africa and North America have highest rates of preterm births

Africa and North America have the highest rates of preterm births, the World Health Organization has found in a global overview.

The report’s authors estimate that in 2005 12.9 million births, or 9.6% of all births worldwide, were preterm, defined as occurring at less than 37 weeks of gestation (Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2010;88:31-8, doi:10.2471/BLT.08.062554). About 11 million (85%) of these preterm births were in Africa and Asia, while about 0.5 million occurred in each of Europe and North America (excluding Mexico) and …