BACKGROUND: This cross-sectional study explores associations between preterm delivery and demographic, clinical and occupational characteristics of women employed within a university and health system. METHODS: A comprehensive surveillance system linking individual-level data from Human Resources, medical insurance claims and a job-exposure matrix was used to identify women with a single live birth between 2001 and 2004 and describe maternal characteristics during pregnancy. RESULTS: Preterm delivery occurred in 7.1% (n = 74) of the 1,040 women, a lower preterm delivery prevalence than observed in the general U.S. population. Nearly all (>99.5%) women utilized prenatal care services. Prevalence of preterm delivery was highest for inpatient nurses, nurses' aides and office staff. In multivariate analyses, preterm delivery was positively associated with several clinical conditions: placenta previa, diabetes and cardiovascular disorder/disease. CONCLUSIONS: We observed associations between preterm delivery and several previously indicated clinical conditions. Further study of the effect of job characteristics on preterm delivery is warranted.