Fifteen million babies, one in ten births, are born prematurely² every year, a global project suggests.

一项全球项目显示，每年有1/10、大约1500万婴儿是早产儿。

One million of these babies die soon after birth. The joint³ report, led by the WHO, says three quarters of deaths could be prevented with basic care.

For the first time premature¹ birth rates have been estimated by country, with the highest risk being in Africa.

In the UK about 8% of babies are born too soon and this rate is rising partly due to obesity⁴ and later motherhood.

There are nearly 60,000 premature births every year in the UK.

Andy Cole, from premature baby charity Bliss⁵, said "it is worrying that the UK's preterm birth rate is significantly higher than countries such as Sweden, Norway and Ireland, and highlights the need for well-co-ordinated and high-quality antenatal（产前的） care for all women identified as high risk".

Worldwide problem

A premature or preterm baby is one that is born before 37 weeks after the first day of the mother's last period. A full term baby is when pregnancy⁶ lasts 40 weeks.

Fortyfour organisations contributed to The Born Too Soon report, which estimated premature birth rates - the number of babies born too soon, out of the total of number of live births - for 184 individual countries, in the first study of its kind.

Of the 11 countries where over 15% of babies are born too early, all but two are in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the report highlights it is a problem worldwide.

"It is very striking to see that preterm births have a similar burden all around the world - but due to different reasons," Dr Lale Say from the WHO said.

"In developing countries it is due to things like infections, HIV, malaria⁷ and poor nutrition.

"In developed countries there are totally different risk factors - an older delivery age, diabetes⁸, obesity and multiple births due to IVF."

The report also mentions caesarean sections（剖腹产） before full term, which are not always medically needed, as a reason for increasing premature baby rates.