DATA STORY
How many preterm births happened last year?
We count the number of babies born too early to plan services for families. In 2024, 576 babies were born too early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Of these, 66 babies were born very early, before 32 weeks of pregnancy. Over the past 10 years, the absolute number of preterm births decreased in San Francisco because the total number of births decreased. The percentage of preterm births did not change.
Maternal, Child, and Adolescent HealthThese line graphs show the total number of births in San Francisco that were born preterm and very preterm.
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Data notes and sources
Data source:
- California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Vital Record Business Information System (VRBIS). VRBIS data include one birth certificate record for each and every baby born in California.
- Data were analyzed by the San Francisco (SF) Department of Public Health Maternal Child & Adolescent Health Epidemiology Section.
Data notes:
- Preterm birth is defined as live birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Very preterm birth is live birth before 32 weeks of pregnancy.
- We count preterm births experienced by San Francisco residents between January 1 and December 31 of each year.
- Babies born before 37 weeks of pregnancy, may not have fully developed brain, eyes, lungs, liver, or other organs.
- Babies born very early, before 32 weeks of pregnancy, may have serious health problems.
Data limitations:
- Data are not shown if the number of preterm births in the group is less than 20 to protect the privacy of individual people in the group. For small groups, please see the days of pregnancy lost because of preterm birth for the group.
- The total numbers shown here may undercount the true numbers, because we do not count preterm births that happened outside of California, in other states or countries.
- We do not count babies delivered in San Francisco by people who are not San Francisco residents. The California Department of Public Health VRBIS data include one birth certificate record for each and every baby born in California.
More information
See linked pages about preterm birth in San Francisco