Women with poor mental health ‘have 50% higher risk of preterm birth’

The study recommends that pregnant women should be sensitively questioned in detail about their mental health by doctors when they are first assessed. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Women who struggle with their mental health have an almost 50% higher risk of preterm births, according to the biggest study of its kind.

The research, published on Tuesday in the Lancet Psychiatry, examined data from more than 2m pregnancies in England and found about one in 10 women who had used mental health services had a preterm birth, compared with one in 15 who did not.