PREVENTION OF PRETERM BIRTH IN PATIENTS WITH SYMPTOMS OF PRETERM LABOR - THE BENEFITS OF PSYCHOLOGIC SUPPORT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of ps ychologic support against preterm delivery in pregnant women with symp toms of preterm labor. STUDY DESIGN: The study, which involved two coh orts of women identified during two successive periods in the same mat ernity ward, included 309 women in the experimental group and 323 in t he control group. The women in the control group were followed up acco rding to the usual therapeutic procedures, whereas additional psycholo gic support was offered to the experimental group. The analysis, condu cted ''in intent to treat,'' was based on the estimation of the relati ve risk by a multivariate logistic regression adjusting for confoundin g factors. RESULTS: A significant decrease in the preterm birth rate w as observed in the experimental group (12.3%) compared with the contro l group (25.7%), with an adjusted relative risk of 0.37 (95% confidenc e interval 0.30 to 0.47). CONCLUSION: This study confirms the feasibil ity of this kind of intervention and the effectiveness of psychologic support on the risk of preterm delivery.