To understand the causes of premature delivery, first we need to understand what the cause for premature delivery is. Any delivery which occurs 3 weeks prior to the expected date of delivery is called as premature delivery. In other words we can say that the delivery that happens at 37 completed weeks of gestation, is known as premature delivery. Practically there is no specific cause that leads to premature labor, but there are certain associated conditions or certain high risk factors that can lead to premature labor pains. Any pregnancy can land up in premature labor. So we can actually be more aware about the risk factors that lead to premature onset of labor pain. So most important factor if we see in clinical practice is if a patient comes with a history of premature labor pains in the also pregnancy. Second most important cause of premature delivery is any associated infections of the amniotic fluid. Amniotic fluid as we understand is the fluid which surrounds the baby. So any infection of the amniotic fluid or of the lower genital tract or the birth canal of the baby or of the urinary tract, these factors lead to the early onset of labor pains which leads to premature delivery. In present scenario, we are getting exposed to many patients who are having a history of smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol. Even cigarette smoking or drinking alcohol predisposes to premature onset of labor pains. If the patient has a history of multiple pregnancy, we are seeing “N” number of cases who become pregnant through IVF procedure. So chances of having twins, triplets, quadruplets is more common. Increased number of babies cause increased stretching of uterus and that can lead to premature onset of labor pains. One more important cause is any long standing medical disorders in the females due to increased incidence of obesity, we are seeing, high sugars during pregnancy, high blood pressure which is called as pregnancy induced hypertension, and gestation diabetes, they also predispose to early onset of labor pain. Last but not the least, is any structural defect seen in the uterus like bicornuate uterus or a septate uterus. These are the defects which cause early onset of labor pains before 37 weeks of delivery. Cervix is the opening of the mouth of the uterus. So if there is any defect the structure of the cervix, it causes premature opening of the mouth of the uterus and there can be premature delivery. There can be placental defects, placental hypertrophy, IUGR or intrauterine growth retardation which causes premature onset of labor pains.

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