Other Treatments for Preterm Labor and Delivery
Tests may be done to monitor a woman and baby during preterm labor. These tests are:
- Blood and urine tests to look for signs of infection
- Ultrasound images to:
- Look at the placenta
- Check the baby’s age
- Look for birth defects in the baby
- See the position of the baby
- Measure the cervix and the amount of amniotic fluid
- Amniocentesis to remove and test a small amount of amniotic fluid to look for infection or to see if the baby’s lungs are mature
REFERENCES:
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Committee on Practice Bulletins—Obstetrics. Practice Bulletin No. 171: Management of Preterm Labor. Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Oct;128(4):e155-64, reaffirmed 2018.
Premature labor. American Pregnancy Association website. Available at: http://americanpregnancy.org/labor-and-birth/premature-labor. Accessed August 3, 2020.
Preterm labor. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:https://www.dynamed.com/condition/preterm-labor. Accessed August 3, 2020.
Preterm labor and birth. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists website. Available at: https://www.acog.org/patient-resources/faqs/labor-delivery-and-postpartum-care/preterm-labor-and-birth. Accessed August 3, 2020.
Preterm labor and birth. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development website. Available at: https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/preterm/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed August 3, 2020.
Sosa CG, Althabe F, Belzan JM, Bergel E. Bed rest in singleton pregnancies for preventing preterm birth. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;3:CD003581.
Last reviewed March 2020 by EBSCO Medical Review Board Beverly Siegal, MD, FACOG Last Updated: 2/24/2021