Frequency of eating during pregnancy and its effect on preterm delivery

Frequency of eating or meal patterns during pregnancy may be a component of maternal nutrition relevant to pregnancy outcome. To identify meal pattern s of pregnant women and investigate the relation between these meal pattern s and preterm delivery, the authors performed an analysis using data from t he Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition Study (n = 2,065), Women recruited f rom August 1995 to December 1998 were categorized by meal patterns on the b asis of their reported number of meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and s nacks consumed per day during the second trimester. An optimal pattern was defined according to the Institute of Medicine recommendation of three meal s and two or more snacks per day. In this population, 72 percent of the wom en met this recommendation, and 235 delivered preterm. Women who consumed m eals/snacks less frequently were slightly heavier prior to pregnancy, were older, and had a lower total energy intake. In addition, these women had a higher risk of delivering preterm (adjusted odds ratio = 1.30, 95 percent c onfidence interval: 0.96, 1.76). There was no meaningful difference in the risk by early versus late preterm delivery, but those who delivered after p remature rupture of the membranes (adjusted odds ratio = 1.87, 95 percent c onfidence interval: 1.02, 3.43) had a higher risk than those who delivered after preterm labor (adjusted odds ratio = 1.11, 95 percent confidence inte rval: 0.64, 1.89). This study supports previous animal model work of an ass ociation between decreased frequency of eating and preterm delivery.