Fatores de risco maternos para prematuridade em uma maternidade pública de Imperatriz-MA

despite advances in obstetrics, prematurity is still a major public health problem because of the neonatal morbidity and mortality it causes. the objective of this study was to investigate maternal risk factors for premature births in a public maternity in the city of imperatriz-ma. a cross-sectional comparative study was conducted with 116 mothers, through structured interviews. the data were analyzed using epi-info version 3.5.1. the variables that showed statistically significant association with preterm delivery were monthly income below two minimum wages (p = 0.046), stress during pregnancy (p = 0.027), primiparity (p = 0.044), absent or inadequate prenatal care (p <0.001) and clinical complications in pregnancy (p<0.001). the results show that the maternal risk factors implicated in prematurity are related mainly with lifestyle, socioeconomic and clinical variables, and prenatal care.