Preterm Labor

Bindusri Paruchuri, M.D. and Lamia F. AbiSamra, Doctor of Medicine Reviewed 05/2023

BASICS

Preterm birth is defined as birth between 20+0 weeks to 36+6 weeks' gestation

Regular contractions occurring between 20 weeks to 36 weeks and 6 days with either a change in effacemen...

Diagnosis is generally based on a combination of significant cervical changes (such as dilation, effacement) with regular contractions. However, there is no single test that will reliably di...

Treat underlying risk factors. Hospitalization is necessary if the patient needs IV tocolysis.

Tocolysis may allow time for interventions such as transfer to tertia...

Weekly office visits with contraction monitoring, cervical checks, or cervical US if at high risk for recurrence
Routine use of maintenance tocol...

Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK. Births in the United States, 2019. NCHS Data Brief. 2020;387:1-8.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Committee on Practice Bulletins...

Purisch SE, Gyamfi-Bannerman C. Epidemiology of preterm birth. Semin Perinatol. 2017;41(7):387–391.

Treatment of preterm labor may delay delivery to facilitate short-term interventions.
Tocolysis to help administer corticosteroids over a 48-hour period. Steroids improve neonatal outco...

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