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Abstract
To determine if older maternal age (35 years and older) at first birth was an independent risk factor for spontaneous preterm labor, we conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study. Using provincial perinatal data, we developed separate risk models for low- and high-risk women using multivariate logistic regression. We found that older maternal age exerted a direct and independent effect on spontaneous preterm labor for both nulliparous women with no preexisting chronic illnesses or pregnancy complications (low-risk) and nulliparous women who did not have any preexisting chronic illnesses, but developed one or more pregnancy complications (high-risk).
We thank the Alberta Perinatal Health Program for providing us with the data for this study, and in particular Nancy Bott for her assistance in interpreting, cleaning, and recoding the data. We also are grateful to Dr. A. Sentilselvan and Shannon MacDonald for their help with the statistical analysis of the data. Finally, without the financial support provided by the Perinatal Research Centre, University of Alberta, through the CIHR Strategic Training Program in Maternal Fetal Newborn Health, this research would not have been possible.