A family history of pre-term birth puts pregnant mothers at a higher risk

NEW research suggests that a history of pre-term birth in the family of pregnant mothers is associated with an increased risk of a premature birth of their own baby.

Carried out by a team of researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), Israel, and Soroka University Medical Centre, Malta, the study followed 2,303 mothers and daughters over a 22-year period.They found that women with mothers who had had a premature delivery had a 34 per cent greater risk of also having a pre-term birth.The risk remained significant even after the team had taken into account factors such as the woman’s age, race, and preeclampsia.In addition, a woman’s risk of a pre-term birth also increased by 30 per cent if her aunt or sister had also had a premature birth.Professor Eyal Sheiner, one of the study’s authors, commented on the findings saying, “The results of the study show that the medical history of a pregnant woman’s mother and aunts should also be taken into account when considering the risk of pregnancy complications such as premature birth. Women who are at risk can benefit from close monitoring and early detection of genetic markers.”The team also pointed out that, “Exposure to events, situations and/or substances in one generation can affect the growth and development of the next generation.”Pre-term birth refers to a baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Normally a pregnancy lasts for around 40 weeks.It is the leading cause of infant hospitalisation, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with around 1 million pre-term babies dying each year, according to the World Health Organization.In 2015, pre-term birth affected one of every 10 infants born in the United States.The study can be found online published in the