Preterm delivery is a leading cause of child death and results in substantial emotional and economic costs for both the involved family and for society. It increases later disease risk in both the mother and in her preterm delivered child. The proportion of preterm delivery is increasing in several populations. Public health interventions have so far been the only beneficial initiative in prevention and treatment of preterm delivery and there is a need for both larger research studies and an approach that centers more on this complicated condition as a public health problem. The public health and population focus is an important fundament for proper use of new molecular biology techniques that in the future may increase our understanding of the pathophysiological pathways of preterm delivery and result in causal treatment modalities that are applicable to the clinical setting.