Several factors make some women more susceptible to PPROM than others. These include:
- history of PPROM or preterm birth;
- vaginal bleeding in the second trimester;
- smoking;
- use of steroid medications;
- diseases that interfere with the quality of connective tissue (such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome);
- bacterial infections in the cervix-such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, and bacterial vaginosis-that cause an imbalance of the normal environment of the vagina;
- cerclage;
- history of cervical surgery; and
- abnormalities in the shape or size of the uterus or cervix.
