The March of Dimes is giving Rochester a "C" on its first-time report card measuring how states and cities rank for premature births.
In 2013 - which is the latest data available – 10.2 percent of babies born in Rochester were preterm deliveries.
That is the second highest rate in the state and more than a point higher than the statewide average (8.9 percent).
There are also are racial and ethnic disparities, with more Black and Hispanic mothers delivering prematurely.
Rebecca Alley, an OBGYN nurse manager with Rochester Regional Health, says women in a nine-zip code section of the City of Rochester are subject to a high rate of poverty, crime and stress that is likely contributing to unhealthy pregnancies.
"They don't have a solid support structure. Sometimes they don't even have steady or consistent housing or food supply. As opposed to being able to focus on decisions on what is health during their pregnancy it is a challenge, because they have all these other factors going on around them."
Alley says Rochester Regional Health utilizes a health care model which allows women to get their prenatal care in a group setting fosters a kind of support they would not otherwise have.
"When you're experiencing pregnancy yourself, you're definitely relying on other women around to ask, 'Is this normal? Is this not normal? What am I going to do about child care?' We make the assumption as health care professionals that the woman doesn't know something and we tell them. This makes the assumption that women do know something and we just need to help them help themselves."
The Centering Pregnancy programs have been shown to lower premature birth rates for African American women by 41 percent and by 33 percent for the general population.
Though some minority populations have higher rates of premature births locally, Alley said there is no guarantee a woman of any race or socio-economic status is immune. She herself is the mother of a child who was born at 26 weeks and is now thriving.
Pre-existing high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity are all risk factors which can be associated with preterm birth.