Closing the Preterm Birth Gap

As we learned on the last Women’s Healthcast, preterm birth is fairly common. But the rate of preterm birth is elevated for Black women in the United States, with approximately 13.8% of babies born preterm, according to the March of Dimes. Dr. Jasmine Zapata joins us on this Women’s Healthcast to talk about what being born prematurely can mean for children’s health outcomes, the significant racial gap in preterm birth rates as well as Black maternal and infant mortality, and some steps to help providers rebuild trust in the medical system for Black women. Dr. Zapata is a newborn hospitalist with UW Health and an assistant professor in the UW-Madison Department of Pediatrics