Subsequent pregnancy following the loss of an early preterm newborn infant weighing less than 1000 grams.
During a 5-year period (1974 to 1978), 84 mothers with an average age of 26.3 +/- 4.5 years delivered 89 newborn infants who subsequently died. Each infant weighed less than 1000 g. These infants had a mean birth weight of 790 +/- 170 g and a mean gestational age of 26.3 +/- 1.9 weeks. Thirty-six (90%) of 40 mothers who subsequently became pregnant gave birth to a surviving newborn. The mean gestation age and birth weight were 37.6 +/- 3 weeks and 2754 +/- 754 g, respectively. Similar data were obtained from a control group of 565 mothers who delivered normal infants at term during a 2-month interval within the study period. In the control group 170 mothers subsequently became pregnant and 163 (96%) gave birth to normal infants at term. Mean gestational age was 39.09 +/- 2 weeks (P less than .001) and birth weight was 3304 +/- 566 g (p less than .001).
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008423:Maternal Age; D011247:Pregnancy