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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Progress Stalls on Reducing Preterm Birth in North Dakota

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Tuesday, November 18, 2014   

BISMARCK, N.D. - After a number of years on a downward trend, efforts to reduce the number of preterm births in North Dakota have stalled. The latest figures show the preterm birth rate in the state was 9.9 percent last year, unchanged from the previous two years.

Reba Mathern-Jacobson, state program director for the North Dakota chapter of the March of Dimes, says the stalled numbers could be due, in part, to the recent influx of oil and gas workers and their families.

"The hospitals out west are experiencing women coming in with very late or very little prenatal care," she says. "We know that women who have more prenatal care have better outcomes."

Often, the specific cause of premature birth isn't clear, but factors that may increase the risk include smoking, infections, and chronic conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

Premature birth is the leading cause of death for newborn babies, and Mathern-Jacobson says babies that survive can face life-long struggles.

"They may be at an increased risk for birth defects, respiratory problems, cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, blindness, hearing loss and other chronic health problems," she says.

The national goal on reducing preterm births is to drop the rate to 9.6 percent, or less, by 2020.


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