Maternal Height and Preterm Birth: A Study on 192,432 Swedish Women.

BACKGROUND:There is increasing evidence that lower maternal stature is associated with shorter gestational length in the offspring. We examined the association between maternal height and the likelihood of delivering preterm babies in a large and homogeneous cohort of Swedish women. METHODS:This study covers antenatal data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register on 192,432 women (aged 26.0 years on average) born at term, from singleton pregnancies, and of Nordic ethnicity. Continuous associations between women's heights and the likelihood of preterm birth in the offspring were evaluated. Stratified analyses were also carried out, separating women into different height categories. RESULTS:Every cm decrease in maternal stature was associated with 0.2 days shortening of gestational age in the offspring (p