World Prematurity Day

tim:it's world prematurity day -- aimed at raising awareness about pre- mature births. and this year -- the stakes are greater than ever, for the second year in a row -- the u-s pre- term birth rate increased. kcau 9's jamie perez went looking for answers at the nicu at unit point st. lukes - - where the majority of siouxland's babies are born. it's new at six.

" in this day and age and even with all the advanced prenatal care in our hospitals, premature births are still on the rise. at unity point health saint luke's, they deliver around 2000 babies per year. about 10 percent are born premature.

"here at unity point health, we will deliver babies 23 weeks and above. i know some places are doing 22 weeks but that's really cutting edge viability," says cindy running, clinical practice expert. there's many things to consider when medical staff deliver premies...

"what is the outcome? what is the quality of life going to be like? how is the baby going to impact the family?" says running. premature babies tend to not have the resources that babies born on time have...

"premature babies haven't had the time to develop those resources to they have less fat, less ability to stay warm, less ability to breathe adequately, less ability to feed well. so, we have to support all of those body systems in order to get them to a point where they're healthy enough to be discharged," says running. but even with that said, some premies do well, others struggle a bit more.

"i've seen kids to phenomenally well and i get really excited to see that. i've also seen babies with their challenges," says running. while maintaining proper health lowers risk of having a premature baby, the direct cause of premature births still isn't pinpointed on some...

"i've also seen families with moms that have done absolutely everything right and they still have a premature baby so there's that whole range," says running. if your child is born early, just keep this in mind...

"just become as involved and get to know your baby as well as