In a study published in the January issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology, researchers found that overweight women have a lower risk of preterm birth than other women. The study looked at 253 women who were at high risk for preterm delivery, and found that only 8 percent of overweight women delivered their babies before 35 weeks gestation, compared to 22 percent of women who were underweight or of normal weight.

Although this is good news for overweight moms-to-be who are at risk for preterm delivery, overweight women are at risk for other complications of pregnancy such as gestational diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension. The study findings will help doctors decide which moms are most at risk for premature birth, but pregnant moms should still aim for a healthy weight.

The About Preemies forum is up and running, and I'd love to have you stop by and introduce yourself. The forum is a great place for parents of premature infants and children who were born early to get to know one another, to share their joys and troubles, and to ask questions and share advice. I hope to see you there!

Medical science is getting better and better at caring for premature babies, even those who are born very early and very small. Unfortunately, we still have trouble predicting premature labor in the first place, and stopping it once it starts. A new test, called the Lac-test, is making it a little easier for doctors to identify which women will deliver their babies early.

The Lac-test is a simple test that measures the amount of lactate in the vaginal fluid of women whose amniotic sac may have ruptured or be leaking (women who think their “water has broken”). If the concentration of lactate is high, then the woman has an 87% chance of going into labor within 48 hours. If the concentration is low, she has only a 5% chance of going into labor so soon. Results of a major research study on the Lac-test will be published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in early 2009.

Identifying women at risk for premature labor helps doctors choose the safest place for a woman to have her baby. It can also help women at low risk avoid bed rest and medications that may not be necessary.

Because babies born almost at term are bigger and healthier than babies who are born very premature, medical science has tended to lump this population in with full term babies. However, a growing number of studies show that being born even just a little early has some definite risks. A new study published in December’s issue of Pediatrics highlights one of those risks—a link between late-term prematurity and neurological problems. Although the risks were small in both groups (2.1% in late preterm births and 1.2% in term births), babies born between 34 and 36 weeks gestation were almost twice as likely as babies born at term to have cerebral palsy or developmental delays.

If you’re planning a scheduled birth, remember that due dates are just an estimate. Talk with your doctor about scheduling a delivery that’s as close to your due date as possible.