One in eight babies is born too soon and so small they must fight to survive.

Prematurity is a big problem in the United States. About one half a million babies were born prematurely in 2001. That's a 27 percent increase in premature births over the last 20 years. Dr. Scott MacGilvray, assistant professor of pediatrics at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield explains:

SOUND BITE: " . . . about 2 percent of all infants born each year in this country, are born very prematurely, at less than 32 weeks gestation. Although this seems to be a fairly small number of the total amount of births, almost 2 percent of infants that are the smallest and most premature are at highest risk of having significant complications and dying from prematurity."

In about half of the pregnancies, doctors don't know why an infant is born prematurely. In other situations, there are some medical or behavioral risk factors associated with an increased likelihood of delivering prematurely. Dr. MacGilvray explains:

SOUND BITE: " . . . These include maternal smoking, drinking of alcohol and maternal substance abuse of illicit drugs. All of these combined will increase the risk of delivering prematurily, but also low birth weight. Having delivered one infant prematurely places you at increased risk of delivering a subsequent child prematurely, having multiple gestations, either twins, triplets or higher order gestations."

Dr. MacGilvray advises pregnant women follow a healthy diet and get plenty of nutrition. And, they should talk to their doctors about any health conditions or risk factors, so the necessary precautions for delivering a healthy baby can be taken.