Brazil Marks World Prematurity Day as Data Show 193,000 Preterm Births Through September

Overview

• Ministry surveillance recorded 193,281 preterm births nationwide from January to September 2025, including 9,040 in Pará.
• The WHO defines prematurity as birth before 37 weeks and calls it the leading cause of neonatal death, which in Brazil accounts for roughly 11% of deliveries.
• Clinicians urge timely prenatal care with infection screening and second-trimester ultrasound to assess cervical length and consider progesterone, cerclage or a pessary when indicated.
• Hospitals highlight the need for a neonatologist at delivery and round-the-clock multidisciplinary NICU care, with one Rio Preto unit reporting 62 beds and 452 preterm births in the first half of 2025.
• Family-centered practices such as skin-to-skin contact and breast milk, followed by coordinated specialist visits, support recovery and development.