- Chasing the Dream, poverty and opportunity in America

is an ongoing media reporting initiative.

- I learned I was pregnant in August of 2010 and it was

frightening because I wasn't expecting to be pregnant.

My life was basically in shambles,

it was scary, I was homeless at the time,

embarrassed that I was pregnant

and so I had to move in with my sister

to help me and my daughter while I was pregnant.

- Pre-term birth is one of several important adverse

outcomes, and it represents a birth that's before 36 weeks,

so a baby that's born about a month or more early.

In general in the United States, the people

who are at the highest risk of pre-term birth are low-income

women of color, living in stressful situations.

- He was actually in jail

when I found out that I was pregnant,

and the whole time I was pregnant he was locked up.

He actually didn't get out until my son was four years old.

Here in Fresno we have one of the highest rates

of pre-term births in California,

and one of the higher rates in the nation.

For Fresno County the most distressing numbers are the rates

of pre-term birth for African Americans at over 16%.

And also Asian Americans of close to 12%.

- I have been going to the doctor, everything was fine

up until eight weeks before I was due

I started leaking fluid.

And so I went in, and they tested the fluid,

and it was my amniotic fluid, and my doctor suggested

they prep me for an emergency C-section.

- Pre-term birth is one of the most dramatic

risk factors for the health of the child.

So, kids who are born pre-term, in Fresno, account for

70% of the kids who die in their first year of life.

- Before they released him they found a heart murmur.

And so he wasn't okay.

He has pulmonary valve stenosis,

which is a blockage in his artery.

And so his other arteries were working harder

making his heart large,

and he had to have a surgery at six months old.

I thought that I had did something to cause this

and I was really scared that my baby might not make it.

But he had the surgery, everything went well,

and I'm happy to say that he's healthy today.

- The Fresno County Per-Term Birth Initiative

is a ten-year initiative focused on reducing

pre-term birth rates in Fresno County.

What we are doing in the initiative

as our focus and priority areas include

health and education before pregnancy,

care and support during pregnancy and coordination of care.

We launched a Parent Council,

that is comprised of all African-American leaders

and moms with lived experience, in Southwest Fresno.

- I am on the Parent Advisory Committee,

so I've met other mothers

who have experienced premature birth.

- The disparities in Southwest Fresno

with the African-American population are great.

So in California the rates are 8.3 for pre-term birth,

in Fresno County, specifically we're seeing it mostly

in the 93706, the rates are 16.3.

- My goals for the initiative is to help find out

what the issue is that is making women of color

have their babies prematurely.

We need to figure out what the cure is,

and what can help up to have healthy babies.

We wanna have healthy babies like every other woman.

- [Voiceover] Funding for Chasing the Dream

is provided by The JPB Foundation and Ford Foundation.