Background: Preterm birth (PTB) rates have been increased significantly in recent years, mostly due to obstetric intervention. This study presents the incidence of PTB in community hospitals by assessing the association between pregnancy complications and iatrogenic PTB.
Methods: A total of 6,693 pregnancies were enrolled in the Wuxi Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital of Nanjing Medical University. They were divided into two groups (<35 and ≥35 years of age) to examine the effect of maternal age on PTB. Binary logistic and multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between PTB and pregnancy complications.
Results: This study provided the incidence of PTB and found that PP, PROM, and ICP increased the risk of PTB, indicating that pregnancy complications have led to the iatrogenic PTB and contributed to the high rate of PTB, especially in the group of advanced-age pregnant women. The prevalence of PTB was 9.53%. Placenta previa (PP), premature rupture of membranes (PROM), and intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) were significantly associated with PTB. Among all the risk factors, hypertension, disease in pregnancy, premature PROM, and PP were observed as independent key factors for iatrogenic PTBs. In the advanced-age group, PP and pPROM increased the risk of PTB.
Conclusions: It is often necessary to terminate a pregnancy in community hospitals to balance the safety of the fetus and the maternal comorbid symptoms, which has led to nosocomial premature delivery. Therefore, high-risk pregnancies should be carefully evaluated and comprehensively treated with caution to balance the preterm rate and the safety of the pregnant woman and fetus, and the pros and cons of the outcomes, which has brought a challenge to an obstetrician to reduce the proportion of iatrogenic PTB.
Keywords: Preterm birth (PTB); pregnancy complications; premature rupture of membranes (PROMs).
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