Analysis risk factors for preterm births in children under care of the Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation in Bialystok

Introduction: Preterm birth is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks' gestational age. Preterm infants are at risk for numerous medical problems including neurological, cardiological, respiratory, and infection. Purpose: To analyse the selected risk factors of preterm births among children under the care of the Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation in Białystok Materials and methods: The retrospective study included 96 preterm children with very low body mass less than 1500 grams. All children lived in the Podlasie region of Poland. We analysed the risk factors for preterm birth based on the medical files. The detailed interview included: the course of pregnancy, diseases before pregnancy, the prevalence of genetic diseases in the nearest family, and the earlier miscarriages. Results: The intrauterine infection (20 cases), fetal distress, (19 cases), uterine bleeding (15 cases), multiple pregnancies (13 cases) were the most often risk factors of preterm births. Only a few cases concerned congenital toxoplasmosis and cytomegaly, malformation of the reproductive system, mother diseases during the pregnancy. The gender of the child did not determine the preterm birth. A significant correlation between preterm birth and the sequence of pregnancy preterm birth was related with first pregnancy in 47% of cases. There was no correlation between i. body mass and sex, ii. earlier miscarriages and preterm births. Conclusions: The risk factors of preterm births are diverse. Most common causes of preterm births were the intrauterine infection, fetal distress, and uterine bleeding.