Each year about 380,000 babies are born too soon and the United States has definitely a long way to go in reducing the preterm birth rate. This is quite apparent since roughly 1 out of every 8 infants is born prematurely in the United States alone and the preterm birth rate is higher than that of most high-income countries Preterm or premature birth is a term that is described to the birth of an infant before 37 weeks of pregnancy. The greatest contributor to infant death.