Causes of premature birth

Introduction

Statistics say that every 13th child is born prematurely, but the real question is what the causes of premature birth are? Babies who are born before 37th week of pregnancy are considered to be born prematurely. The problems that may occur to a prematurely born baby are mainly related to the fact that their organs are not fully developed. In many cases, there isn’t any known condition that can lead to premature birth.

Multiple pregnancies may lead to premature birth, because in the case of twins or triplets, a womb is stretching beyond its possibilities leading to premature birth. Mother’s age can be a cause of the appearance of premature birth, as the best time for pregnancy is between 20 and 35 age. During pregnancy, it may also happen that a fetus in not developing properly, thus also leading to premature birth. The way of mother`s living is a major factor that has an influence on the fetus inside her. If she is leading a non-healthy lifestyle that involves consuming drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, she must be prepared for the risk of premature labor. If a woman had a surgery on her corvex, she must be aware that her corvex can open too soon in the pregnancy, resulting in premature labor.

There are some diseases that can occur only in pregnancy (pregnancy induced diabetes and pre-eclampsia) and lead to premature labor. There is a list of conditions that mothers may have had in her medical history that are linked to premature birth. Those conditions are systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), or renal disease. Infections, especially untreated vaginal and bladder infections are some of the causes of premature birth. Also, in some cases, medical staff may be in need to induce premature delivery, if there is a problem with medical condition of mother that can endanger a baby that she is caring.

Risk factors

As we have said at the beginning, there is no precise thing that we may exclude as a cause of premature birth. All that the doctors can say for sure is that there are factors that place a future mother in a group with high risk of premature birth, and such factors include all the causes that we have stated above. We can only add vaginal bleeding after 20 weeks of pregnancy that can`t be explained, chronic illness (high blood pressure, kidney disease and some infections that are transmitted), short period of time between two pregnancies, in vitro fertilization, mother`s weight ( meaning overweight or underweight before pregnancy). So, if you find yourself in any of these factors, be careful and consult your doctor if something strange happens during your pregnancy.