RALEIGH, N.C. — The United States and North Carolina are facing a very alarming trend.

A new study commissioned by the March of Dimes has found that the Premature Birth Report Card is on the rise. Heading into Prematurity Awareness month, the March of Dimes released its annual report this week grading all 50 states on preterm birth, showing racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities within each of those states.

For the third straight year, more babies were born ahead of schedule with serious health risks, with the overall preterm birth rate rising to 9.93% in 2017 up from 9.85% in 2016. The country as a whole earned a “C” rating by the MOD Report Card. But North Carolina is one of 30 states across the country that ranked lower than the national average.

The Tar Heel state earned a “D” rating, with a 10.5% preterm birth rate. That is down from 11.1% in 2007. Cumberland County has the highest preterm birth rate at 11.9%, while Wake County earned the lowest score at 8.9%. Both however were improvements from last year.

From 2014-2016, the study found that black people on average have higher preterm live-birth rates than any other ethnicity. That number is 51% higher than the rate among all other women in North Carolina.

For more information on this study, and on the March of Dimes, visit their site.