• Fabio Parazzini, Elena Ricci, Francesca Chiaffarino, Sonia Cipriani, Luca Tozzi, and Luigi Fedele.
• Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Università di Milano, IT-20122 Milan, Italy.
• Gynecol. Obstet. Invest. 2010 Jan 1; 69 (1): 40-5.

AimsWe analyzed the association between previous induced abortions and risk of preterm birth.MethodsThis was a case-control study. Cases were 502 women who delivered preterm babies at the Clinica Luigi Mangiagalli and the Obstetric and Gynecology Clinic of the University of Verona. Controls were 1,966 women who gave birth at term (> or = 37 weeks of gestation) to healthy infants of normal weight.ResultsThe odds ratio for all preterm births was 0.7 (95% CI 0.5-1.1) for women reporting 1 induced abortion and 1.6 (95% CI 0.7-3.5) for those reporting 2 or more induced abortions (chi(2) trend p = 0.81). Previous induced abortions did not increase the risk of preterm birth, both in small and normal for gestational age preterm infants. No difference emerged in risk factors for infants born at <32 and 32-36 gestational weeks.ConclusionThis study does not support the suggestion that induced abortions, as performed in Italy during the study period, increase the risk of preterm delivery in subsequent pregnancies.Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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