World Prematurity Day
World Prematurity Day is celebrated every November 17th as a day to raise awareness of the challenges faced by premature babies and the critical need for quality neonatal care. Complications of prematurity are the leading cause of death in the neonatal period. In the Americas region, about 1.2 million births occur prematurely. Premature babies require specialized attention and specific care to enable them to survive, grow and develop healthily.
In the context of this day, powerful stories emerge of families struggling to provide their premature children with the best possible care. PAHO emphasizes that quality care for these babies should not be a privilege but a right that must be guaranteed for all families.
In 2025, under the theme “Give preterm babies a strong start for a hopeful future,” PAHO calls on governments, civil society, health teams, and families to redouble efforts in prevention, care, and equity in neonatal health services, to ensure that every baby born too soon has the opportunity to survive and thrive. In doing so, PAHO joins the World Health Organization (WHO) in this global call to raise awareness of the urgent need to guarantee equal access to quality care from birth.
World Prematurity Day is celebrated every November 17th as a day to raise awareness of the challenges faced by premature babies and the critical need for quality neonatal care. Complications of prematurity are the leading cause of death in the neonatal period. In the Americas region, about 1.2 million births occur prematurely. Premature…
Washington, D.C., November 17, 2025 (PAHO) — Every year, an estimated 1 in 10 babies is born prematurely, which amounts to approximately 1.2 million children in the Region of the Americas. Prematurity, defined as birth before the 37th week of gestation, is one of the leading causes of neonatal mortality, morbidity, and disability.Newborns face a…
World Prematurity Day is celebrated every November 17th as a day to raise awareness of the challenges faced by premature babies and the critical need for quality neonatal care. In the context of this day, powerful stories emerge of families struggling to provide their premature children with the best possible care. PAHO emphasizes that quality…
Montevideo, 17 November 2023 (PAHO/WHO) - "Fear and confusion. I think those were the strongest feelings". Lautaro was born at 32 weeks and this is how Sofia, his mother, remembers the first days of the experience. "I remember that I lived all that as a state of unreality. Nothing was as we had imagined... Lauti was born in February of…
Complications of prematurity are the leading cause of death in the neonatal period. In the Americas region, about 1.2 million births occur prematurely. Premature babies require specialised attention and specific care to enable them to survive, grow and develop healthily.In order to give visibility to this problem and raise awareness of the needs…
Montevideo. November 9, 2022. As every year, this November, from the Latin American Center for Perinatology - Women's and Reproductive Health (CLAP/WR), a series of actions are developed to give visibility to the needs and rights of premature babies and their families, and to raise awareness about the importance of experience and quality care…
Worldwide, nearly 30 million babies are born prematurely each year. Of these, 1.2 million are born in the Americas region. Since 2011, November 17 has been recognized as World Prematurity Day in order to give visibility to this problem, raise awareness of the needs and rights of premature babies and their families, raise awareness of the…
About 30 million babies are born prematurely per year in the world. Of these, 1.2 million are born in the region of the Americas. Montevideo, November 17th, 2020 (CLAP/PAHO)‒ Premature babies do not reach the appropriate weight, are exposed to getting sick, require specialized attention, care to survive, to grow and develop healthy.A…