A report released last Thursday shows that incidents of premature births rose by 31 percent in two decades—a fact that that bothers many specialists today considering that babies born prematurely face greater health risks such as acute respiratory complications, central nervous system disorders, cerebral palsy and behavioral problems. Trends show that one out of eight babies may be born too soon—and too costly as experts estimate that every premature birth costs about $51,600.

Based on the study, if you are one of the following, you are more likely to give birth to premature babies:

• African-American mothers
• Women who have previously given birth to a premature baby
• Women who have undergone infertility treatments (since probability of giving birth to twins is high, chances are the babies may be born prematurely)
• Poor mothers
• Mothers below the age of 16 and older than 35

The doctors who conducted the research are not yet able to identify reasons for this increase in the number of premature births in the past two decades. Similarly, they still do not know how they can prevent the incidents from rising. They recommended that further research in this area should be conducted.