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Mo. receives "C" in ranking of premature birth rates

Alex E. Proimos
/
FLICKR

For the second year in a row, the March of Dimes has given Missouri a grade of “C” in its annual state rankings of premature birth rates. Factors including maternal smoking, lack of access to health care, and obesity are to blame.

The Director of Newborn Medicine at St. Louis Children's Hospital, Dr. F. Sessions Cole, calls preterm birth a major problem for our region.

Cole said babies born too soon can have serious problems with their lungs, liver, or kidneys. They can have trouble defending themselves against infection. He also said their brains may not be ready for life outside the womb.

“Even though they may not develop acute brain problems within the first month after birth, sometimes these babies can encounter problems with learning, with coordination, with speech and language that may not be noted until they get into kindergarten," Cole said.

Cole says mothers who are able to carry their babies to term should always do so.

Véronique LaCapra first caught the radio bug while writing commentaries for NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. After producing her first audio pieces at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies in N.C., she was hooked! She has done ecological research in the Brazilian Pantanal; regulated pesticides for the Environmental Protection Agency in Arlington, Va.; been a freelance writer and volunteer in South Africa; and contributed radio features to the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. She earned a Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology from the University of California in Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in environmental policy and biology from Cornell. LaCapra grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and in her mother’s home town of Auxerre, France.
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