Preterm birth in the United States: the impact of stressful life events prior to conception and maternal age.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We determined whether and to what extent a woman's exposure to stressful life events prior to conception (PSLEs) was associated with preterm birth and whether maternal age modified this relationship.

Methods

We examined 9350 mothers and infants participating in the first wave of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort, a nationally representative sample of US women and children born in 2001, to investigate the impact of PSLEs on preterm birth in the United States. We estimated the effect of exposure on preterm birth with weighted logistic regression, adjusting for maternal sociodemographic and health factors and stress during pregnancy.

Results

Of the women examined, 10.9% had a preterm birth. In adjusted analyses, women aged 15 to 19 years who

SUBMITTER: Witt WP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3975455 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature