Preterm Labor and Progesterone

Preterm labor and delivery has an enormous impact on medical society and society in general. In fact, 12% of all deliveries in the United States occur before 37 weeks gestation, which makes preterm delivery the greatest contributor to neonatal morbidity and mortality. Dr. Alan Peaceman, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and chief of the MFM division, joins us to discuss the challenges of predicting and preventing preterm birth. Explore with us the new trends in medical therapy that can help significantly reduce the incidence of preterm birth with progesterone. The limitations and promise of biochemical markers, such as fetal fibronectin, and clinical predictors, such as ultrasound measured cervical length for subsequent preterm birth are also reviewed. Progesterone Protocol Information about the use of progesterone therapy can be found on the ACOG website, October 31, 2003 Reference Articles: 1. Peaceman, AM, et al. Fetal fibronectin as a predictor of preterm patients with symptoms; a multicenter trial. Am Journal of Ob/Gyn 1997;177:13-18 2. Adams, Melissa, et al. Rates of and factors associated with recurrence of preterm delivery, JAMA, 2000;283:1591 Articles of interest on the topic of preterm labor management include: 1. Wapner, Ronald, et al. Long Term Outcomes after repeat Doses of Antenatal Corticosteroids