The March of Dimes gave Virginia a "D" for the number of premature births.

The information was released Tuesday on National Premature Awareness Day.
According to the report, 12.1 percent of Virginia babies were born pre-term, which means they are born before the 37th week of pregnancy. The national average is 12.7 percent.

Winchester Medical Center has a parent-to-parent support group that allows mothers who have gone through premature births to talk to those currently experiencing it.

Lora Asaury, whose son was born 11 weeks early, says, "I was a perfect parent. I read all the books, knew what to do and what not to do to have a healthy baby and I assumed I would have the healthy baby. It can happen to just about anybody."

The March of Dimes has a goal of a national pre-term rate of 7.6 percent by next year, which would result in an "A" grade.