Previous obstetric history and subsequent preterm delivery in Greece

A total population sample of 6524 multigravid women who were certain of the date of their last menstrual period was obtained from the population-based Greek National Perinatal Survey of April 1983. The sample was used to determine the associations between features of the maternal obstetric history and preterm delivery. There were significant associations between preterm delivery and previous fetal losses, whether early (miscarriages and/or induced abortions) or late (stillbirths). For mothers who had experienced miscarriage(s), induced abortion(s) or stillbirth(s) the odds ratios were 1.40, 1.36 and 1.15, respectively, compared with mothers without any fetal loss. The odds ratio increased substantially with the increasing number of losses and reached 5.60 for the small group of mothers who had had prior miscarriage, termination and stillbirths. The results changed very little when the socioeconomic characteristics of the family were taken into account.