[Medically indicated preterm birth. Maternal and fetal consequences]

One of the principal challenges of obstetrics is to reduce the percentage of perinatal mortality. Preterm birth is considered the main cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Preterm birth by medical indication, is a condition rarely documented in medical literature, but it requires analysis to determine the effect in perinatal health. In a third care hospital setting, a prospective study was performed on 154 pregnant women that delivered preterm babies between 25 and 36 weeks of gestation. The Relative Risk (RR) was obtained to compare the association between the medical indication of the preterm birth, the use of fetal pulmonary maturants, type of delivery, the health status of the newborn at birth and hospital discharge. The main causes of preterm birth by medical indication were: premature rupture of membranes, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth retardation and fetal distress. Neonatal mortality was 13%. The rate of cesarean section was higher than expected. Despite the various types of delivery, there were no significant differences between mortality, length of hospital stay or hospital complications. The probability of death to preterm born was explained to gestational age and was not modified for medical decision to interrupt pregnancy.