Preterm birth rates are lower than the national average for white women and higher for Black and Asian women, and women living in the most deprived areas, according to a new University of Bristol-led study published in BMC Medicine . The study analyzed data from 1.3 million births across the 130 NHS Trusts in England and is the first to report ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in preterm birth rates.
In the UK, about 1 in every 13 births is a preterm birth, and more than 50,000 cases occur annually. Despite the existence of preventive measures for women deemed to be at high risk, a persistent increase in preterm birth rates continues. Until now, there has been a lack of evidence regarding how socioeconomic disparities affect preterm birth rates.
To investigate this, the team at Tommy's National Center for Maternity Improvement used data from the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit data, for babies born in England between 2015 and 2017. The study found that of the 1,174,047 births and 91,056 preterm births recorded between 2015 to 2017, the preterm birth rate ranged from 6.8/100 births for women living in the least deprived areas to 8.
8/100 births for those living in the most deprived areas. Similarly, the preterm birth rate ranged from 7.8/100 births for white women, up to 8.
6/100 births for Black women. The findings also show the risk of preterm birth varied between and within NHS Trusts. Within the same Health Trust, preterm birth rate appears to be variable depending.