A comparative study on preterm birth in elderly mothers and young mothers

Background: In the present-day scenario women are career oriented and ambitious. They might not want to spoil their focus by getting pregnant. Late motherhood helps them sort their career, and when they do have children, it allows them to spend more time and money on their kids. In order to achieve this woman are choosing to embrace the motherhood in later age. Most of them not understanding the consequences of delayed marriage and late pregnancy. Advanced maternal age at birth has been found to be associated with preterm delivery, low birth weight, intrauterine foetal death and increased perinatal morbidity and mortality The aim of our study was to know the preterm birth in elderly mothers and young mothers, and to compare preterm births in these two groups. Methods: Our study was a cross sectional, analytical case control study, done in babies delivered to mothers >35 years and <35 years. Information like age of the mother, gestational age, period of gestation at birth etc were recorded in a proforma. Collected data was analysed using frequency, percentage, chi square test and odds ratio Results: In our study, total sample size was 460 (230 cases and 230 controls). Incidence of preterm deliveries were significantly more in case group (babies born to mothers >35 years) than the control group (babies born to mothers between 19 to 35 years). Conclusions: It was observed that premature births were more common in babies born to elderly mothers than young mothers.