In 2016, the March of Dimes hosted a two-day strategic planning session with 30 different organizational leaders. Its purpose was to develop a five-year strategic map for mobilizing support to meet our preterm birth rate goals in the U.S. of 8.1 percent by 2020 and 5.5 percent by 2030 with a focus on high-burden populations and areas.

If the 2020 goal is achieved, 210,000 fewer babies will be born prematurely (1.1 million fewer if the 2030 goal is achieved), resulting in savings of $67 billion in health and societal costs. View the summary of the discussion points addressed at the planning session.

The strategic map identifies five critical strategies and a central challenge: Achieve equity and demonstrated improvements in preterm birth. The five critical strategies that are now being pursued include: 

• Promoting health equity 
• Improving clinical and public health practice 
• Expanding research and translating findings to new forms of prevention and treatment
• Developing effective messaging to raise awareness about the urgent problem of prematurity and public policies to prevent it  
• Seeking additional funding and resources​

View the strategic map.

• Prematurity Collaborative

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