(CNN) – A new study suggests women who give birth prematurely have a higher risk of early death.
Researchers used birth records from more than two million Swedish nationals from 1973 to 2015.
Women who delivered before 37 weeks of pregnancy had a 1.7 times higher risk of dying early from any cause during the 10 years after the birth compared to women who delivered full-term.
The study, published in the journal The BMJ, also found the highest risk came in the first 10 years but the increased risk could last up to 40 years.
The research team said this was an observational study and they did not establish a cause.
It was also unclear how many of these pre-term births were spontaneous or medically-induced.
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