This commentary serves as the introduction to a special supplement on preterm birth, establishing preterm birth as a “silent emergency of global scale” and calling for urgent action to address this critical health challenge. The article reveals stark statistics: every 2 seconds a baby is born too soon, every 40 seconds one dies, and an estimated 13.4 million babies were born preterm in 2020 – nearly one in ten babies worldwide.
The authors emphasize that preterm birth is the leading cause of child deaths, accounting for more than one in five deaths of children before their fifth birthday. From 2010 to 2020, an estimated 152 million babies were born preterm, yet rates have remained stagnant with some regions experiencing increases. The commentary highlights massive equity gaps, with only 1 in 10 extremely preterm babies surviving in low-income countries compared to more than 9 in 10 in high-income countries.
The supplement builds on the successful 2023 “Born Too Soon: decade of action on preterm birth” report, which was part of a campaign spearheaded by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. The campaign harnessed three key shifts: the power of data (providing evidence for action), the power of people at the center (featuring lived experiences and stories), and the power of partnerships (engaging 70 organizations and 140 individuals from 46 countries with a media reach of 3.47 billion people).
The commentary outlines seven main papers and four commentaries in the supplement, organized around three domains: progress in the last decade, programmatic priorities based on evidence, and pivots needed to accelerate change. Five papers align with the original 2012 Born Too Soon report while two new papers address novel topics: respectful and rights-based care, and intersectoral interventions. The supplement adopts a life-course approach emphasizing healthy beginnings for vulnerable babies and follow-up care for preterm survivors and their families. The authors conclude by positioning preterm birth as central to achieving Sustainable Development Goals and calling for investment in high-quality, respectful care to ensure all babies can survive and thrive.
