A team of US and Canadian researchers has found that a simple blood test can help determine which mothers are more likely to deliver a baby preterm, an advance that may lead to the development of a universal screening strategy to prevent preterm births that can both cause harm to the mother and the baby.

Researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto showed that low levels of placental growth factor (PlGF) -- a protein that signals placental development -- are associated with preterm birth. Preterm birth is defined as a birth before 34 weeks' gestation.