Preterm birth rates for Native mothers are consistently higher than the national average. More than one in ten Native pregnancies fail to reach full term. Any birth before 37 weeks has statistical risks, but depending on how premature they are, preterm newborns face a myriad of health dangers including serious brain, heart, and gastrointestinal problems. There are a number of prenatal risk factors, some of which mothers have control over to help their babies go to full term. We’ll talk about premature births and what parents of premature babies should expect.