(HealthDay News) -- Premature birth is defined as any baby born at fewer than 37 weeks' gestation.
Here's a list of potential triggers of early labor, courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine:
- Diabetes, heart disease or kidney disease.
- An infection.
- Insufficient prenatal care.
- An unhealthy diet.
- Preeclampsia, a condition occurring after the 20th week of pregnancy and characterized by high blood pressure and abnormal protein in the urine.
- Substance abuse.
- Becoming pregnant at age 17 or younger.
