London, Aug 19 (IANS) Pregnant women should avoid artificially sweetened diet soft drinks, as a study has linked them with premature births.

Research conducted on almost 60,000 pregnant women in Denmark found that those who drank such soft drinks, whether fizzy or still, were more likely to give birth early.

It was found that those who drank one serving daily of artificially sweetened fizzy drink were 38 percent more likely to give birth before 37 weeks' gestation, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Those who consumed four servings a day were 78 percent more likely to have their baby prematurely, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

It is suspected that artificial sweeteners are broken down in the body into chemicals which may affect the womb, the researchers said.

The study was conducted by Thorahallur Halldorsson of the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark.