Premature Baby Rates Are Up, Down
From Times Wire Reports
The rate of single-born premature babies among white women climbed 8% between 1989 to 1996 but dropped among minorities, the government said. Despite the narrowing of the racial gap, black babies are still nearly twice as likely to be born premature as are white ones, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said. Among blacks, the rate decreased nearly 10%, from 180.4 per 1,000 births to 162.5, the CDC said.
