Autism and premature birth link?

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I’ve written here before about myself and toddler son (I’m pretty sure we’re both Aspies). I’m currently pregnant with my second son and this has gotten me thinking about studies I’ve seen regarding autism and the perinatal period.

Going back to my own childhood, my mother always told me how bad her pregnancy was with me. She had preeclampsia, her water broke prematurely and I was born at 34 weeks weighing just under 5lbs. I was also breech and required a C section. My mother is also a toxic narcissist and has used this to guilt me several times.

My pregnancy and birth with my son was relatively uneventful. He was a bit on the small side (6 1/2 lbs) and two weeks early, but this isn’t significant enough to change his brain structure if he wouldn’t have been autistic anyway.

There is speculation about the link between autism and preterm birth and weather it’s correlation or causation. Does being born prematurely increase the risk of autism or is it the other way around? Are there underlying abnormalities in a fetus with genes for ASD that makes early birth more likely? I’m starting to wonder if it’s the later.
I’ve also heard it’s not uncommon for autistics to have been born late, like 2 weeks after EDD.

I was a month early, more or less. Weight at birth was just a bit over 4 lbs, kept in an incubator for about 5 days before they let me go home. My mother was autistic and I suspect that mine was /is genetic. Her sisters , her mother and her mother's grandmother seem to have been autistic too. Autism goes on in following generations in that same family line. Not sure how many were premature. I am pretty sure there have been studies trying to link premature births with autism before ( no ties proved)

Me and my brother have ASD, and my dad at least has traits of it, so it's obviously genetic in my case. Though I was born premature and I've always wondered if what caused that (my placenta dying) worsened my ASD and/or comorbids. I don't think they know how long that was happening, and I could imagine that would have reduced the nutrients and oxygen that I was getting and messed with the development of my nervous system. I don't know if there's any research specifically on that issue + it's affects on ASD children, I haven't been able to find any.

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics ... in-Preterm

I was quite premature (about 3 months, due early October born late June), had to spend 3 months in the NICU. I have read that the risk of autism goes up for preemies, not to say every preemie has autism, but it increases the risk more so than babies born to term.

Premature birth are more often associated with risks of developmental issues amongst other things.

Said developmental issues, which may turned out specific or global, may coincide with chances of autism from it's own developmental issue.



In my own case, I'm not born premature with any pre or post natal risks, yet I'm autistic.
My sister is born by varying pre and post natal risks, and yet she's an NT.
Our respective upbringings doesn't factor. My own genetic source of AS is unknown.

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I was born premature, now as to whether that has a direct connection to my autism, I'm not sure; however, I've read that, babies born premature tend to develop many difficulties early in life and possibly later in life.