[Prevention of prematurity in a community. Study in a community of Maghrebian immigrants]

The North African migrants who deliver at the hospital of Mantes La Jolie have a very low premature delivery rate (2.9%). This is surprising because they would classically be at high risk for prematurity and they often fail to take any notice of our suggestions to prevent this. A study of the mechanisms that could be invoked to explain this good result has led us to describe a prophylactic system that works in the North African community of this town. This system is based on mutual exchanges and aids established as a kind of network. The authors have set out in the list of this population of North Africans which they studied three groups of women A, B, C, who are classified according to the degree of culture they have acquired. This culture makes it possible for others to take part within the network of communal aid; the most cultured of the women (who are the most westernized) are the least involved in this system. This preventive system within the community allows the very low use of the hospital to put the women to rest and very low numbers who have to take beta-mimetics.