Risk factors leading to preterm deliveries among the mothers in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka

Health status of pregnant woman is associated with the risk of preterm delivery. An institutional-based descriptive study was conducted among 173 mothers who delivered preterm babies at the Teaching Hospital, Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

 

Median gestational age of the preterm babies was 35.0 (±1.9) weeks. The mean birth weight of the preterm babies was 2.2 (±0.6) kg, and 54.3% of preterm babies were males. Nearly half of the mothers (54.9%) did not have complications during pregnancy, while pre-rupture of membrane (25.4%) and hypertension (13.3%) were in higher prevalence among those who had the complications. The risk factors of very preterm deliveries observed were the mothers who were primies (OR: 3.021), the mothers who maintained interpregnancy interval of <1 year (OR:1.117), had sexual intercourse before two weeks of delivery (OR:1.607) and were diagnosed with pregnancy complications (OR:1.695).

 

The prevalence of very preterm birth is low. However, based on the risk factors linked to very preterm identified by this study, implementation of interventions focusing on improving the profile of the pregnant mothers may serve as a protective factor for reducing very preterm birth.