[Maternal risk factors for premature births in a public maternity hospital in Imperatriz-MA].

Despite advances in obstetrics, prematurity is still a major public health problem because of the neonatal morbidity and mortality it causes. The objective of this study was to investigate maternal risk factorsfor premature births in a public maternity in the city of Imperatriz-MA. A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted with 116 mothers, through structured interviews.