State's Premature Birth Rate Dropping

1/14/2013 (Updated 11:19:26 PM)

There's some good news on the health front--
 
New York's rate of premature birth is dropping--meaning that hundreds of infants are getting a better start on life.
The State's Department of Health puts the rate for 2011 at 10.9 percent.

That's down, from 12.2 percent in 2009, and lower  than the national rate of 11.7 pecent.

Local medical professionals say collaboration with perinatal centers is helping control complications associated with premature births.