The Comparison of the Risk Factors in the Term and Preterm Delivery

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Premature delivery is the presence of progressive uterine contractions before reaching 37 weeks of pregnancy. Since it is associated with perinatal complications and high costs, this study aimed to study the risk factors for premature delivery. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 377 pregnant women with preterm labor (23-37 weeks) and 423 pregnant women of term delivery referring to Ayatollah Rohani Hospital of Babol city, Iran. We extracted and investigated the subjects’ demographic data, history of infertility, smoking habits, use of drugs, fast food consumption, history or presence of maternal illnesses and surgery, Urinary Tract Infections (UTI), Oligohydramnios, intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), embryonic anomalies, premature rupture of membranes, vaginal bleeding as well as the neonatal data. FINDINGS: As observed in the two groups of preterm and term delivery respectively, there was employment during pregnancy in 83 (22%) and 51 (12%) cases, a history of preterm labor in 41 (10.9%) versus 21 (5%) cases, bleeding during the first trimester in 118 (31.3%) versus 61 (14.4%) cases, fast food consumption in 34 (9%) versus 14 (3.3%) cases, UTI in 150 (39.8%) versus 111 (26.2%) cases, anemia in 62 (16.4%) versus 29 (6.9%) cases, hypertension in 72 (19.1%) versus 13 (3.1%) cases and finally, smoking habits in 22 (5.8%) versus 5 (1.2%) subjects. There was a statistically significant association between the aforementioned variables (p