In the CD Review (Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2003;88:F164) reviewed by C Wren, please note that the affiliation of the authors is published incorrectly. This should have read Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney. Also, the web address in the final paragraph is incomplete. The correct address is: http://www.cs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/neonatal/default.htm. The errors are much regretted.

The authors would like to acknowledge and apologise for an error in our article Socioeconomic status and preterm birth: New Zealand trends, 1980 to 1999. ED Craig, JMD Thompson, EA Mitchell (Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2002;86:F142–6).

Paragraph four in the Results section should read “Figure 2 summarises changes in preterm birth rates by Deprivation Index decile between 1980 and 1999. During this period rates rose from 5.2% to 5.9% among those living in the most deprived areas (a 13.5% increase), from 4.0 to 5.5% amongst those living in average areas (a 37.5% increase) and from 3.1% to 5.4% amongst those living in the least deprived areas (a 74.2% increase). Thus while in 1980 a marked social gradient in preterm birth existed, by 1999 this had diminished markedly.” Table 2 and table 3 are amended. These errors do not significantly change the reported trends in preterm birth or the interpretation of the findings previously published.