Premature Births within San Bernardino County

We have been doing a needs assessment of premature births in San Bernardino County for a class assignment. Here are some important facts we have learned: 

•  In 2007 there were more then 35,000 births within San Bernardino County (city-data.com). 
• In 2011 11.5% (almost 3,000) of these births were premature. This percentage continues to be above what the Healthy People 2020 objective is (healthysanbernardinocounty.org, 2012). 

Why is this important?

In 2009 prematurity/low birth weight was the second leading cause of death among children under the age of five (thecommunityfoundation.net). Premature infants are at risk of requiring specialized attention to maintain growth & development.

 “Babies born to mothers who do not receive prenatal care are three times more likely to have a low birth weight and five times more likely to die than those born to mothers who do get care" (healthysanbernardinocounty.org).

 “Hispanic persons under the age of 65 years (34%) were about twice as likely as non-Hispanic persons in that age group (15%) to be uninsured”  (www.cdc.gov).

References: 

CDC/national center for health statistics. (2012). Retrieved February 10, 2012, from 

  http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/hispanic_health.htm

Healthy San Bernardino county. (2012). Retrieved February 2, 2012, from 

 http://  www.healthysanbernardinocounty.org/

The community foundation. (2011). Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://  www.thecommunityfoundation.net/home/index.html

 

Please join us in discussing the following questions:

How does this impact our practice of occupational therapy?

What can we do as occupational therapists to help reduce the incidence of premature births?