OBJECTIVES To identify combinations of tests and treatments to predict and prevent spontaneous preterm birth. DATA SOURCES Searches were run on the following databases up to September 2005 inclusive: MEDLINE, EMBASE, DARE, the Cochrane Library (CENTRAL and Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group trials register) and MEDION. We also contacted experts including the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childb...

BACKGROUND ARF6 (ADP-ribosylation factor 6) small GTP binding protein plays critical roles in actin cytoskeleton rearrangements and membrane trafficking, including internalisation of G protein coupled receptors (GPCR). ARF6 operates by cycling between GDP-bound (inactive) and GTP-bound (active) forms and is a potential regulator of GPCR-mediated uterine activity during pregnancy and labour. ARF...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the incidence of serious maternal complications after the use of various tocolytic drugs for the treatment of preterm labour in routine clinical situations. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING 28 hospitals in the Netherlands and Belgium. PARTICIPANTS 1920 consecutive women treated with tocolytics for threatened preterm labour. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Maternal ad...

OBJECTIVE To determine the accuracy with which various types of tests for bacterial vaginosis predict spontaneous preterm birth in pregnant women. DATA SOURCES Studies were identified without language restrictions through nine different databases, and manual searching of bibliographies of known primary and review articles. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION There are four different bacteri...

QUESTION One of my patients, a 36-year-old, who has had three pregnancies and two live births, delivered her third baby at 32 weeks' gestation. Her first pregnancy was complicated by premature labour, which led to delivery at 30 weeks' gestation. She received antenatal phenobarbital before the first delivery because it was considered proven therapy for preventing intraventricular hemorrhage in ...

BACKGROUND In 2009 the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care funded the implementation of province-wide fetal fibronectin testing in Ontario hospitals. This paper reports results from the provincial evaluation that sought to describe the experience of fetal fibronectin testing from the perspective of women with symptoms of preterm labour. METHODS A descriptive qualitative design was u...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The length of cervix predicts the risk of preterm delivery. The objective of this study was to assess cervical length in pregnancy by transvaginal ultrasonography for generating normative data for nulliparous women at no special risk of preterm labour. METHODS An observational study was carried out in a tertiary care teaching hospital in eastern India in nulliparous wo...

Constant rise of incidence of intraepithelial uterine cervix lesions in young patients implies a larger number of therapeutic surgical procedures. The paper aims to assess the risk of such surgical procedures on later pregnancy and delivery. The paper is a retrospective study performed at the Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Niš. The study enrolled 30 pregnant women in the experimental gr...

BACKGROUND In high-income countries, administration of antenatal steroids is standard care for women with anticipated preterm labour. However, although >1 million deaths due to preterm birth occur annually, antenatal steroids are not routine practice in low-income countries where most of these deaths occur. OBJECTIVES To review the evidence for and estimate the effect on cause-specific neonat...

Gestational trophoblastic disease encompasses a diverse group of lesion. If molar changes in the placenta are known along with an alive fetus then the situation is difficult to manage. We present successfully managed case of partial degeneration of placenta in molar pregnancy with an alive fetus at second stage of preterm labour.