premature

About a quarter of preterm births are planned. If you or your baby have a complication and are not doing well, your medical team might decide to induce labor early or perform a cesarean section before 37 weeks. (This might happen if you have a serious medical condition, such as severe or worsening preeclampsia or if your baby has stopped growing, for example.)

premature baby

The rest are known as spontaneous preterm births. You may end up having a spontaneous preterm birth if you go into labor prematurely, if your water breaks early (known as preterm premature rupture of membranes, or PPROM), or if your cervix opens prematurely with no contractions (known as cervical insufficiency).

About 12 percent of babies in the United States are born prematurely, which is about one-third higher than the rate in the early 1980s. More women are using fertility treatments, which makes them more likely to have twins or higher order multiples, who tend to arrive early. Also, more women are delaying pregnancy, and the chance of conceiving multiples goes up as you get older.

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