The preterm parturition syndrome

The implicit paradigm that has governed the study and clinical management of preterm labour is that term and preterm parturition are the same processes, except for the gestational age at which they occur. Indeed, both share a common pathway composed of uterine contractility, cervical dilatation and activation of the membranes/decidua. This review explores the concept that while term labour results from physiological activation of the components of the common pathway, preterm labour arises from pathological signalling and activation of one or more components of the common pathway of parturition. The term "great obstetrical syndromes" has been coined to reframe the concept of obstetrical disease. Such syndromes…