Treatment of preterm labor with the beta-adrenergic agonist ritodrine

Article Abstract:

Treatment of pregnant women experiencing preterm labor with the beta-adrenergic agonist ritodrine may not increase infant survival. Beta-adrenergic agonists are a group of drugs used to delay delivery in women experiencing preterm delivery. Among 708 pregnant women with preterm labor, 352 were treated with intravenous ritodrine, and 356 were treated with a placebo, an inactive substance. Of 771 infants, 23 (6.1%) in the ritodrine group died, compared to 25 (6.4%) in the placebo group. One infant in the ritodrine group had cerebral palsy, compared with five in the placebo group. Treatment with ritodrine did not significantly decrease the number of infants born prematurely, or the number born with a low birth weight. Women treated with ritodrine experienced symptoms such as chest pain and an irregular heart beat more often than those who received a placebo.

Health aspects, Labor (Obstetrics), Ritodrine

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Monitoring women at risk for preterm labor

Article Abstract:

Daily telephone monitoring by a nurse may not reduce the rate of preterm labor in pregnant women at risk for early delivery. Researchers enrolled 2,422 women at risk for preterm labor in an educational class, then randomly assigned them to receive weekly or daily nursing calls, or daily uterine activity monitoring. Daily calls and monitoring did not reduce the rate of preterm labor. Women who received daily calls made more unscheduled visits to the obstetrician and were more often prescribed drugs to stop uterine contractions, indicating that premature labor may have been overdiagnosed.

Methods, Evaluation, Measurement, Premature labor, Home nursing, Maternal health services, Patient monitoring, Physiologic monitoring

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Antibiotics for the prevention of preterm birth

Article Abstract:

Pregnant women who have symptomatic bacterial vaginosis should receive antibiotics. Bacterial vaginosis is a bacterial infection in the vagina. Premature delivery is often caused by an infection in the uterus or vagina. One study gave pregnant women several oral doses of the antibiotic metronidazole to see if it would prevent premature delivery. Although the antibiotic eliminated the infection, it did not reduce the incidence of premature birth. However, a combination of intravaginal and oral antibiotics may work better than an oral drug alone.

Editorial, Vaginosis

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