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Parkland Premature Birth Rate Falls 50%

By BJ Austin, KERA News

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-823427.mp3

Dallas, TX – Parkland Hospital has cut the number of premature births in half over the past 15 years.

Dr. Kenneth Leveno, at UT Southwestern, says that's remarkable considering the national pre-term birth rate has been rising. And he credits Parkland's success to a "good" public health program.

Leveno: It's a seamless program, administratively and medically. What it means is that women can enroll for pre-natal care at a neighborhood access, community based. And they can move thru a health care program that is organized and has a lot of features directed at the care of those women.

Dr. Leveno says most of those women are minority, and uninsured - the most vulnerable for premature births. The Parkland study appears in the March issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Send E-mail to BJ Austin