The Answer:

Of the 4.1 million babies born in the United States in 2004, 12.5 percent were premature. This is an 18% increase over the rate in 1990. (A baby born at 37 weeks is considered premature. Normal gestation is 39 weeks.)

Blacks have a higher rate of premature births than the general population; the premature-birth rate for non-Hispanic Blacks in 2004 was 17.9% of all births. For non-Hispanic whites, the rate was 11.5%.

For more information, check out more of our birth statistics and other U.S. Statistics.

—The Editors