Mothers who give birth to premature babies are at nearly TWICE the risk of dying early compared to other women, study finds
- An Icahn School of Medicine study reviewed records on more than two million women Swedish who gave birth between 1973 and 2015
- Women who delivered before they were 37 weeks pregnant were 1.7 times more likely to die earlier than average women
- Those who gave birth between 22 and 27 weeks of pregnancy. faced 2.2 times higher risks of premature death by any cause
- It remains unclear why these women died younger, but they had higher rates of conditions like heart disease and diabetes later in life
Women who give birth to a premature baby are much more likely to die young than other mums, warns a new study.
And the risk of an early death persists for up to 40 years after delivery, say researchers.
The study, published by The BMJ, shows that pre-term and early term delivery are independent risk factors for premature death in women.
Researchers say that their findings were not explained by shared genetic or early life environmental factors in families, suggesting that women who deliver prematurely ‘need long term clinical follow-up for detection and treatment of chronic disorders associated with early mortality.’
Women who delivered their babies before 27 weeks were 2.2 times more likely than average women to die early, and those who delivered before 37 weeks were at 1.7 times greater risk, an Icahn School of Medicine study found (file)
Around one in nine of all births worldwide occur pre-term, defined as before 37 weeks of pregnancy.
Women who deliver pre-term or extremely pre-term, defined as after 22 to 27 weeks of pregnancy, have been reported to have increased risks of developing conditions including heart disease or diabetes in later life.
But, until now, little was known about their long term risk of death.
The research team led by Dr Casey Crump, at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, set out to examine the long term effect on life expectancy of pre-term delivery.
They analysed figures on length of pregnancy for more than two million women who gave birth in Sweden during the period from 1973 to 2015.
Deaths were then identified from the Swedish Death Register up to December 31, 2016, giving maximum follow-up time of 44 years.
Overall, 76,535 women died (3.5 percent), at an average age of 58.
After taking account of several other risk factors, the researchers found that women who delivered pre-term or extremely pre-term had 1.7-fold and 2.2-fold increased risk of death from any cause, respectively, during the next 10 years compared with those who delivered full term, equating to around 28 excess deaths per 100,000 person years.
The findings showed that whereas risks were highest in the first 10 years after delivery and then declined, absolute differences in death associated with pre-term delivery increased with longer follow-up times.
For example, there was a 1.5-fold increased risk / equivalent to 48 excess deaths per 100,000 person years – 10 to 19 years after delivery, and a 1.4-fold increased risk – equivalent to 143 excess deaths per 100,000 person years – 20 to 44 years after delivery.
Overall, an estimated 2,654 excess deaths in this population were associated with pre-term delivery, or one excess death for every 73 women who delivered pre-term.
Dr Crump said: ‘Several specific causes of death associated with pre-term delivery were identified, including cardiovascular and respiratory disorders, diabetes, and cancer.
‘What’s more, these findings did not seem to be attributable to shared genetic or environmental factors within families.’
He said that premature delivery should now be recognised as a risk factor for early mortality in women that can remain raised up to 40 years later.
Dr Crump added: ‘Women who deliver prematurely need long term clinical follow-up for detection and treatment of chronic disorders associated with early mortality.’