March Of Dimes Focusing On Lowering Number Of Premature Births In Minority Communities

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Tuesday marks World Prematurity Day, and the Empire State Building will be lit in purple -- the color of the March of Dimes, whose mission is to ensure every baby is born healthy.

Premature birth is the leading cause of death for newborns and a major cause of disabilities, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.

"This is a fact. It's a huge problem," said Nelson Andino with the March of Dimes' New York chapter. "It's a poverty issue as well. It's an access issue as well. And so I'll be getting to sort of address that issue and get there."

The group is spearheading programs at two Queens hospitals, Jamaica and Elmhurst, reaching into communities of color, where prematurity rates remain high.

"Obesity rates are some of the risk factors associated with that," Andino said.

Smoking and stress have also been shown to cause mothers to deliver early.

The March of Dimes' report card gives the nation a C, with 380,000 babies born prematurely in 2014.