Biologic evidence suggests that the hormones activated by stress affect gestational length, but the results of epidemiologic investigations are inconsistent. The authors of this paper know of no threshold models that have been studied; these models assume that stress does not affect preterm delivery until a certain amount of stress has been experienced but that each unit of stress above the thr...

BACKGROUND Preterm delivery represents a substantial problem in perinatal medicine worldwide. Current knowledge on potential influences of probiotics in food on pregnancy complications caused by microbes is limited. OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that intake of food with probiotics might reduce pregnancy complications caused by pathogenic microorganisms and, through this, reduce the risk of sponta...

BACKGROUND This randomized controlled trial compared the diagnostic accuracy of the sonographic assessment of cervical length and clinical digital examination of the cervix in the second trimester regarding the prediction of preterm delivery in a low-risk population. METHODS In total, 282 unselected, asymptomatic women with singleton pregnancy randomly underwent sonographic cervical length me...

The authors assessed the influence of age, period, and cohort effects on rates of preterm delivery in the United States. Rates of preterm delivery for singleton births (<37 weeks) in seven age groups (15-19, 20-24,., 45-49 years), five periods (1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995), and 11 maternal birth cohorts (1926-1930, 1931-1935,., 1976-1980) were examined. Over the 20-year study interval, preterm...

Preterm delivery (PTD) is the leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Epidemiological association between PTD and various bacteria that are part of the vaginal microflora has been reported. Bacterial vaginosis is believed to be a risk factor for preterm delivery. The aim of the present study is to investigate the association between bacterial vaginosis, cervicovaginal fetal fibronectin...

BACKGROUND Artificially sweetened (AS) and sugar-sweetened (SS) beverages are commonly consumed during pregnancy. A recent Danish study reported that the daily intake of an AS beverage was associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery. OBJECTIVE We examined the intake of AS and SS beverages in pregnant women to replicate the Danish study and observe whether AS intake is indeed associa...

OBJECTIVE Interleukin 1 receptor type 2 (IL1R2) regulates the inflammatory pathway that results in preterm delivery. We aim to investigate the impact of IL1R2 gene polymorphisms on the risk of preterm delivery. METHOD A total of 664 women with spontaneous preterm and term deliveries were genotyped for IL1R2 gene polymorphisms (rs2072476A/G, rs2071008G/T, rs2072474C/T) using Sequenom MassARRAY...

OBJECTIVES To investigate whether, in pregnancies complicated by spontaneous preterm delivery, fetal fraction of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in maternal plasma at 11-13 weeks' gestation is altered and if this measurement could be useful in the prediction of preterm delivery. METHODS Fetal fraction of cfDNA was measured at 10 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks' gestation in 3169 pregnancies, 3066 (96.7%) that deli...

Clinical trials evaluating the potential benefit of anticoagulant treatment in pregnant women with inherited thrombophilia are based on the observation that a genetic predisposition to thrombosis is associated with frequent abortions and preterm birth. It was the aim of our study to delineate the impact of genetic polymorphisms with prothrombotic and antithrombotic effects on the occurrence of ...

Background: To determine maternal risk factors and perinatal outcomes of preterm births in south-western Nigeria. Methods: A retrospective study of preterm and term deliveries in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. The delivery records were reviewed and case files of preterm births were identified and retrieved. Perinatal outcomes were determined by review of the postnatal and special care baby uni...