Nurture :: suppressing prelabour contractions

Suppressing Prelabour Contractions

When a baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy, its heart and lungs are not fully developed and respiratory problems can occur. Premature babies are also more susceptible to learning problems and hearing or vision problems, and some may develop serious physical or mental handicaps as they grow older. Babies born before 24 weeks of pregnancy are very unlikely to survive.

Women with prelabour contractions and a positive fetal fibronectin test result are at increased risk of preterm delivery. For these women it is imperative to prolong the pregnancy as long as possible, to give the baby’s lungs and heart a chance to develop further. Nifedipine is given to the mother to suppress contractions for 48 hours while steroids are administered to help prepare the baby’s lungs for birth.

Dr Emma Parry is leading a study to find out whether Nifedipine – administered after steroid injections – can prolong the pregnancy by 7 days. This would provide crucial time for the baby’s lungs and heart to develop more fully and increase the chances of a healthy baby at birth.

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pregnancy complications current projects

preventing late pregnancy complications suppressing prelabour contractions understanding the causes of stillbirth investigating the causes of preeclampsia improving antenatal genetic diagnosis pre-term birth and risk of later diabetes analysis of amniotic fluid to predict preterm labour cervical characteristics may predict preterm labour understanding the causes of perinatal and maternal deaths preventing respiratory distress syndrome in preterm babies