Hospitals should ensure women in pre-term labour are treated with magnesium sulfate, according to new guidelines.
There are "possibly" some units that have not caught up with the use of the treatment, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Its new guidance says the treatment should be used when a woman goes into labour between 24 and 30 weeks of gestation. This will reduce the risk of cerebral palsy, it says.
There is also advice on treatment to delay labour and birth for women who have previously lost a baby mid-trimester or had a previous pre-term birth.
Professor Sam Oddie, a neonatologist from Bradford, who helped develop the guidelines, said: “This new quality standard will help midwives and obstetricians provide even better care to pregnant women who are going to give birth early.
“I am particularly excited by the statement on magnesium sulfate and offering treatments to stop the cervix opening early, I think these treatments will help some babies a great deal.”
Professor Gillian Leng, from NICE, said: “This quality standard highlights key issues, originally raised in the NICE guideline on Preterm labour and birth, where care needs to improve."
Leave a Reply