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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting
Published on: January 12, 2018
Risk of preterm and early term birth by maternal drug use
Rebecca J Baer1,2, Christina D Chambers3, Kelli K Ryckman4
1Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. rjbaer@ucsd.edu.
Objective:
Examine the risk of preterm birth (PTB, < 37 weeks) and early term birth (37-38 weeks) for women with reported drug abuse/dependence.
Study Design:
The population was drawn from singleton livebirths in California from 2007 to 2012. Drug abuse/dependence was determined from maternal diagnostic codes (opioid, cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine, other, or polysubstance). Relative risks, adjusted for maternal factors were calculated for PTB and early term birth.
Result:
Of the 2,890,555 women in the sample, 1.7% (n = 48,133) had a diagnostic code for drug abuse/dependence. The percentage of PTBs varied from 11.6% (cannabis) to 24.3% (cocaine), compared with 6.7% of women without reported drug abuse/dependence.
Conclusion:
Women with reported drug abuse/dependence during pregnancy were at increased risk of having a PTB and all but those using cannabis were at risk of having an early term birth. Women using cocaine and polysubstance were at the highest risk of birth < 32 weeks.
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