Study of Risk Factors for Preterm Neonates

Introduction: Preterm births occur for many different reasons. Preterm infants are at greater risk for short and long term complications, including disabilities and impediments in growth and mental development. Objective: Present study was conducted to assess various risk factors for preterm birth. Materials and Methods: The study conducted included 100 preterm neonates and 100 term neonates as control group. The risk factors of mothers were evaluated retrospectively by using a pre-designed questionnaire. Results: The study of 100 preterm cases and 100 controls showed that lack of antenatal care (72 %), clinical anemia (68 %), maternal illnesses like hypertension (58 %) and other antenatal complications like placenta praevia (56 %) were significant risk factors for preterm as compared to the control group. Conclusion: This analysis suggested that a substantial proportion of preterm births may be averted by improving maternal nutritional status, anemia, providing antenatal care, identifying and treating maternal illnesses and antenatal complications.