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Updated: Aug 29, 2026

Mouse Model of Surgical Uterine Injury and Subsequent Pregnancy Outcomes
Published on: June 27, 2025
Complications of term pregnancies beyond 37 weeks of gestation
Aaron B Caughey1, Thomas J Musci
1Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. abcmd@uclink.berkeley.edu
Objective:
To estimate when rates of pregnancy complications increase beyond 37 weeks of gestation.
Methods:
We designed a retrospective, cohort study of all women delivered beyond 37 weeks of gestational age from 1992 to 2002 at a single community hospital. Rates of perinatal complications by gestational age were analyzed with both bivariate and multivariable analyses. Statistical significance was designated by P <.05.
Results:
Among the 45673 women who delivered at 37 completed weeks and beyond, the rates of meconium and macrosomia increased beyond 38 weeks of gestation (P <.001), the rates of operative vaginal delivery, chorioamnionitis, and endomyometritis all increased beyond 40 weeks of gestation (P <.001), and rates of intrauterine fetal death and cesarean delivery increased beyond 41 weeks of gestation (P <.001).
Conclusion:
Risks to both mother and infant increase as pregnancy progresses beyond 40 weeks of gestation.
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