News

New Study Links Structural Racism with Increased Risk for Preterm Birth and Infant Mortality in Black Women

Racism plays a key role in perpetuating the health inequities we see in birth outcomes among Black women in California today, including preterm birth and infant death before 1 year of age. Research has suggested that higher levels of racial segregation are associated with worse birth outcomes, but...

Risk of Preterm Birth Reliably Predicted by New Test

Identifying Women at Risk in Second Trimester Could Lead to Early Treatment, Prevention Scientists at UC San Francisco have developed a test to predict a woman’s risk of preterm birth when she is between 15 and 20 weeks pregnant, which may enable doctors to treat them early and thereby prevent...

New Study Finds Drop in Preterm Births After Closing Coal, Oil Power Plants

Coal and oil power plant retirements in California associated with reduced preterm birth among populations nearby    

Designing Better Pregnancy Care for SF Medi-cal Insured Women

Health care experiences of pregnant, birthing and postnatal women of color at risk for preterm birth

Chronic stress is a known risk factor for preterm birth, yet little is known about how healthcare experiences add to or mitigate perceived stress. This study, published in Social Science & Medicine, describes the pregnancy-related healthcare experiences of 54 women of color from Fresno, Oakland...

A New Protocol for Research Priority Setting

A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting, published in JOVE!  

Benioff Community Innovators Program Report

This year, 10 women from San Francisco were trained in and conducted qualitative research in order to make their own recommendations to improve insecure housing for pregnant women, and prevent preterm birth! The Benioff Community Innovators went from learning to sharing at scientific conferences (...

UCSF Pledges Continued Support for DACA Students, Staff During Town Hall

University of California reacts to Trump administration's repeal of DACA program 

Sleep Disorders Linked to Preterm Birth in Large California Study

Insomnia, Sleep Apnea Nearly Double the Risk of a Preterm Delivery Before 34 Weeks By Laura Kurtzman, read the full press release from the UCSF News Room.

Spring 2017 RAP Results: PTBi California funds two innovative research projects

The California Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi-CA) is committed to engaging academic and community investigators across a variety of disciplines and sectors to collaboratively tackle the complex problem of preterm birth.