title: [Beneficial effect of maternity leave on delivery].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the contribution of the duration of the prenatal maternity leave on term delivery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Characteristics of the prenatal maternity leave and delivery among 363 working women who had delivered a full-term infant at 1 of 4 hospitals in Montreal during 1996 were studied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The presence of an intervention or complication during delivery was observed in 68.9% of the participants. The average duration of the prenatal maternity leave was about 8 weeks (SD = 7). The adjusted risk of a difficult delivery decreased significantly with the duration of the prenatal maternity leave (OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.93-0.99).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The duration of the maternity leave before delivery is associated with an easier term delivery for working women.
authors.affiliation: Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Santé, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7. qian.xu@umontreal.ca
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Séguin
authors.forename: Lise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goulet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D016524:Parental Leave; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology; D011295:Prenatal Care; D011792:Quebec; D014931:Women, Working
vernacular_title: Effet bénéfique d'un arrêt du travail avant l'accouchement.