Preterm birth associated factors. A case-control study.

Background: Preterm births are an increasing trend globally, and it demands healthcare and social support. Thus, studying the sociodemographic risk factors associated with preterm birth reflects a better understanding and enables the development of efficient, cost-effective maternal health services. Objective: To assess the association between pregnancy planning and preterm birth. Then, our secondary objective is to investigate the sociodemographic factors among preterm and full-term delivered women. Methods: A case‒control study was conducted on n=391 postpartum women. Fifty-two preterm births (cases) and 339 full-term births (controls) were performed in a referring hospital in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. A survey is collected from postpartum women rating pregnancy planning practices and other sociodemographic characteristics. Results: The majority, 85% of the sample, were housewives, and 80% were within a low-income category earning less than 10,000 SR per month for both preterm and full-term mothers. We found a greater odds of having chronic illness during pregnancy (OR= 1.76, 95% CI (1.062, 2.917)) the preterm birth mothers. Conclusion: and recommendation: Our study highlighted the preterm associated risk factors namely, presence of pregnancy illness, more likely to end by cesarian section, and to have a neonatal complication. Thus, the result highlighted the need for careful antenatal care pregnancy management for women with chronic illness such as diabetes, and hypertension. Therefore, we also recommend pregnancy preparation and planning for healthy pregnancy specially for high-risk pregnancy.