MEDiscuss • Medical News • Early births decline in most categories, U.S. report finds; Rates drop for most states and ethnic and gestational-age groups

For the first time in three decades, the nation and most states saw a two-year decline in preterm birth rates, indicating that strategies have begun to pay off. Rates declined for both late and early preterm births, among the major racial and ethnic groups, for mothers under 40, and regardless of the method of delivery.