Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Modeling Encephalopathy of Prematurity Using Prenatal Hypoxia-ischemia with Intra-amniotic Lipopolysaccharide in Rats
Published on: November 20, 2015
Maternal weathering and risk of preterm delivery
Claudia Holzman1, Janet Eyster, Mary Kleyn
1Department of Epidemiology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. cholzman@epi.msu.edu
Objectives:
We compared the association between advancing maternal age and risk of preterm delivery across 4 groups (Black smokers, Black nonsmokers, White smokers, White nonsmokers) and within the context of neighborhood deprivation levels.
Methods:
We obtained data from linked census and birth records for singletons (n = 182 938) delivered by women aged 20 to 39 years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; 16 Michigan cities; 3 Maryland counties; and 2 North Carolina counties. Results from area-specific multilevel logistic regression models were combined to obtain pooled estimates of relations between maternal age and risk of preterm delivery. We repeated the models after categorizing women by neighborhood deprivation level (low, medium, and high).
Results:
Among multiparous women, there was a significant age-related increase in preterm delivery in 3 of the 4 groups. The adjusted odds ratio per 5-year age increase was 1.31 in Black smokers, 1.11 in Black nonsmokers, and 1.16 in White smokers. In each group, the odds ratio increased as neighborhood deprivation increased.
Conclusions:
These results support the "weathering" hypothesis, suggesting that Black women, women with high-risk behaviors, and women living in high-deprivation neighborhoods may develop "accelerated aging" that increases preterm delivery risk.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Development of the Oral Microbiota
What is Weather?
Teratogenicity
Development of Human Microbiota
Hot Weather Concreting
Mitigating the heat increase in concrete can be economically achieved by shading aggregate stockpiles to prevent heating from solar radiation,...
Design Example: Managing Concrete Workability
To address...

