Using data from over 700,000 births in Missouri from 1989 to 1997, researchers found that African American mothers were 3 times more likely than Caucasian mothers to deliver prematurely at 20-34 weeks and almost 4 times more likely to deliver extremely prematurely at 20-28 weeks. (Full term births occur at 37-41 weeks gestation.) The results of the study are published in the February issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. [click link for full article]