Given that OXTR expression in the amnion increases in association with the onset of labor [18] and that its aberrant methylation in other tissue types has been implicated in autism [19], a disorder that has been associated with PTB [20, 21], we sought to investigate if DNA methylation could represent one mechanism regulating OXTR gene function in the contexts of normal parturition and prematurity. This evidence concerns the gene OXTR and autism.