Table 1.

Changes for preterm birth since World Prematurity Day, 17^thNovember 2011

Issue characteristics
Data	Cause of neonatal and child death estimates and trends, 2000–2010 (Global, regional and national) [1]
	- preterm birth now second leading cause of under-5 deaths, after pneumonia.
	- deaths from preterm birth complications reducing slower than other major causes of child death.
	Preterm birth prevalence estimates for 184 countries for 2010 and trends 1990–2010 for 65 countries [2]
	- 14.9 million babies born preterm, > 60% in Africa and South Asia, highest rates in Africa.
	- Rates increasing over last 21 years in all but 3 of the 65 countries with trend estimates.
	Preterm prevention analysis for 39 high income countries showed limited potential for prevention with current interventions [6]
	- Whilst rates appear to be recently leveling off in more than half of these 39 high-income countries, the largest national relative rate reductions so far are still under 5%
	Even with full coverage of 5 complex interventions, preterm birth rates can be reduced by only about 5%
Visibility	Publications
	Born Too Soon[7]
	The Lancet papers on preterm estimates, causes of death and prevention impact [1,2,6]
	Media outreach
	Major global media attention [8]
	Social media increased
	World Prematurity Day
	Four organizations spearheaded first World Prematurity Day in 2011
	More than 60 organizations participated in World Prematurity Day 2012, with events planned on over 40 countries.
Ideas
Interventions	Global consensus of essential interventions for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health including interventions for preterm birth. [9]
	Evidence reviews of preterm birth interventions [10]
	Inclusion of antenatal steroids on the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities [11]
Implementation	Cost effective, high-impact solutions becoming more widely recognized, with more priority given to countries scaling up, eg Kangaroo Mother Care and antenatal corticosteroids.
Research themes	Implementation research, especially for improved care of preterm babies.
	Discovery and development research, especially for prevention of preterm birth.
Actor power
Partnership	More than 50 organizations joined to produce Born Too Soon.
	Every Woman Every Child accountability system and 31 new commitments for preterm birth by global and local partners
Champions	Countries stepping forward as champions for preterm birth – eg Malawi, Uganda
	More global organisations paying attention to preterm birth
	Professional organisations showing leadership eg letter from FIGO president to all country members

Adapted from Shiffman J and Smith S [4].