Influence of prolonged pregnancy on infant development.

Although prolonged pregnancy has been associated with a twofold to sevenfold increase in perinatal morbidity and mortality, few investigators have addressed the question of long-term outcome for postterm infants. The existing information, spanning several decades, is confounded by several factors, such as different treatment eras, different population demographics, limited predictive value of testing preschool children, absence of term controls, retrospective nature of many surveys and unreliable criteria used to define prolonged pregnancy. At the University of Toronto a prospective, controlled study to determine the extent and frequency (if any) of developmental disturbances associated with prolonged pregnancy in both eutrophic and dysmature neonates is nearing completion. The results obtained could be important when one is faced with a decision on how to manage a postterm pregnancy.