Blood test may predict preterm birth

A simple blood test may soon be able to predict whether a pregnant woman is at risk of delivering her baby preterm, say scientists, an advance that may help better manage related birth complications.

Pregnancy can be a time of uncertainty for expecting mothers and their clinical care teams. Nearly 10 per cent of births are preterm, taking place before 37 weeks gestation.

Preterm birth can result from several conditions, including preterm labor, preterm rupture of the placental membrane, or preeclampsia.

Mothers who have previously had preterm deliveries are considered at increased risk, but predicting spontaneous preterm birth is challenging, particularly in the cases of first-time mothers, which account for about one-third of the nearly four million births nationally each year.

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in the US have been developing a blood test to help predict who may be at increased risk and who may be at lower-than-average risk for spontaneous preterm delivery.

In a study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, showed that five circulating microparticle proteins found in first-trimester blood samples may provide important clues about risk of spontaneous preterm birth.

"A lot of the issues in pregnancy that result in spontaneous preterm birth begin at the end of the first trimester when the placenta becomes vascularised," said Thomas McElrath, from Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Researchers have found that proteins contained in circulating microparticles in the blood may hold important clues about spontaneous preterm birth.