Preterm labour remains the leading cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity.
At the very least, delaying delivery for 48 hours can allow antenatal steroid treatment which reduces the incidence of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome and mortality. Who to Treat for Preterm Labour Risk factors. Probably the most efficient risk factor known is a previous preterm birth, which is associated with about a three-fold increase in the risk of a further preterm delivery1. Other risk factors such as minority ethnic origin, poor socio-economic status, and working during pregnancy have a significant association with preterm labour, but the relative risk is only about 1.5. There have been many attempts to combine the various risk factors into a risk score , but they fail to identify even half the women who actually deliver preterm.