Prematurity Collaborative

The March of Dimes Prematurity Collaborative aims to achieve equity and demonstrated improvements in preterm birth. Premature birth (before 37 weeks of pregnancy) and its complications are the leading contributors to infant death and disability in the United States.

The Prematurity Collaborative has 340 member organizations and over 600 individual members all working together to achieve equity and demonstrated improvements in preterm birth prevention. A strategic map identifies the critical strategies that guide Collaborative Work Group activities. March of Dimes provides backbone support.

Collobarative Steering Committee Members

Birth Equity for Moms and Babies Consensus Statement

​Collaborative meetings

View the 2018 meeting schedule and the 2019 meeting schedule for the full Collaborative, steering committee and workgroups. To receive meeting notices and become a participant in a Workgroup and/or the full Collaborative, or to receive the Collaborative newsletter, complete this sign-up form or email us at collaborative@marchofdimes.org. Collaborative newsletters are available here.

Collaborative Work Group Resources and Accomplishments

Clinical and Public Health Practice Workgroup

  1. 2018/2019 Work Plan
  2. Progesterone (17P) to reduce recurrent preterm birth
  3. Upcoming meetings

Communications Work Group

  1. The March of Dimes has been working on evidence-based equity messaging with the Frameworks Institute®-a group of social scientists who develop evidence-based ways of framing issues for the public. View Dr. Julie Sweetland, VP for Strategy and Innovation at the FrameWorks Institute®, discuss how to talk about health equity for moms and babies on this recording and use the slide deck  and this two-page document for additional information.
  2. Upcoming meetings

Health Equity Workgroup

  1. 2018/2019 Work Plan
  2. ​Health equity issue briefs, key articles and statements, including the Prematurity Collaborative’s Guiding Principles to Achieving Equity in Preterm Birth
  3. Health equity toolkits and resource guides
  4. Health disparities data
  5. Health equity videos and webinars
  6. Health equity initiatives and other resources
  7. Upcoming meetings

Policy Work Group

  1. 2018/2019 Work Plan
  2. Upcoming meetings

2017/2018 Accomplishments

Prematurity Prevention Summit: Building a Birth Equity Movement

Thought leaders convened on May 21-22, 2018 in Arlington, VA to advance policy and practice, to mobilize community leadership, to share and spread emerging ideas and promising practices, and to energize stakeholders to achieve equity and reduce preterm birth. View agenda, session objectives and speaker bios and the Summit synopsis. Concurrent session presentations available here:

Recordings of the Plenary Sessions can be found here: