The 2017 travel ban imposed by the Trump administration on seven Muslim-majority countries may be associated with an increase in preterm births among women from those countries residing in the United States, according to a new study.
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Researchers found an increase in preterm birth rates among women from countries on the 2017 travel ban.
The study, published last week in the journal Social Science and Medicine, analyzed preterm birth rates among women from countries impacted by the travel ban: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Researchers found an increase after the ban, with a preterm birth rate of 8.6% between February and September 2017. That percentage rose from 8.5% before the ban, between January 2009 and December 2016.
By comparison, US-born, non-Hispanic White women held a steady 8.6% preterm birth rate throughout the time frames.
The 0.1 percentage point increase may not