Epidemiology of preterm birth in Omdurman maternity hospital, Sudan

Objective. To investigate the prevalence and to identify risk factors for live singleton preterm birth in Omdurman Maternity hospital, Sudan. Methods. Case-control study. Odds ratios were adjusted for the confounding factors using multiple logistic regression models. Results. Among 3240 live birth at maternity hospital during the 3 months period of the study, 126 (3.8%) were a live preterm birth. About 99 live preterm births at a mean (SD) of 32.7 (2.2) gestational weeks were included in the final analyses. About 80 (81.0%) of these 99 preterm births were spontaneous preterm. births and the rest 19 (19.0%) were medically indicated preterm, births. Univariate and Multivariate analyses showed that those women who had history of miscarriage, preterm birth, cesarean delivery, dental maneuver, and vaginal bleeding in the index pregnancy, both low body mass index (BMI) (< 25) and high BMI (> 30) and those women who had short interpregancy interval were at higher risk for preterm birth. Conclusions. The study showed that spontaneous preterm birth predominates in this setting. Preterm birth has a tendency to recur. Infections (periodontal) and nutrition were the risk factors for preterm birth. More research is needed especially in the area of nutrition and oral hygiene.