Parental separation following preterm delivery in Canada: a population-based cohort study

Objective: To examine the association between preterm delivery and parental separation and identify associated risk factors.

Methods: All opposite sex, married or common-law parents whose relationship status was available at index delivery and for the next 5 years were eligible in this retrospective population-based cohort study in Manitoba, Canada. Parents of children born preterm were matched 1:5 to parents of children born full-term. Parental separation within 5 years of childbirth was the primary outcome. Secondary outcome was the time to separation. Multivariable Poisson regression model was created to estimate the 5-year incidence rate ratios (IRR) of the primary outcome.

Results: Parents of 6367 children born preterm (n=164 for <28 weeks, n=1196 for 28-33 weeks, n=5007 for 34-36 weeks) and parents of 30 663 children born full-term were included. Compared with parents of children born term (4.2%), only parents of children born at 34-36 weeks had a higher incidence rate of separation (5.5%, IRR: 1.26; 1.09-1.45, p=0.002), although parents of children born at 28-33 weeks (5.4%, IRR: 1.20; 0.93-1.55, p=0.16), and at<28 weeks (5.5%, IRR: 1.27; 0.66-2.45, p=0.48) had similar IRRs. Time to separation was similar between all groups.

Conclusions: Parents of children born at 34-36 weeks had higher separation rates than parents of children born full-term. The risk factors identified can be used to identify and provide supports to at-risk parents.