Risk of premature birth lower in heavy women

Study: The overweight tend to have fewer contractions before 34th week
Among pregnant women at higher-than-average risk of premature delivery, those who are overweight or obese seem to be afforded some protection, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that of 253 women who were followed during pregnancy, those who were overweight or obese had a far lower rate of preterm delivery compared with normal-weight or underweight women. Just over 8 percent gave birth before the 35th week of pregnancy, versus nearly 22 percent of normal-weight or underweight women.

All of the women in the study were considered to be at higher-than-normal risk of preterm delivery because of previous preterm births or bleeding problems during the current pregnancy. But excess weight seemed to lower this risk, the researchers report in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.