NEW TREATMENT MAY MEAN EASIER CHILDBIRTH
Author: admin
A new vaginal insert presently being studied may shorten induced labor and reduce the need for caesarean sections in women who have had a previous vaginal delivery.
Medical research statistics show that every year thousands of pregnant women need to undergo induced labor for a number of reasons. Some women are confronted with potentially dangerous complications such as diabetes, sickle- cell anemia or ruptured membranes— others have not delivered well past their due dates. For those women, the only labor-inducing drug option has been oxytocin, a strong medication that can cause uterine contractions so strong they can present a very real danger to the fetus.
Scientists have developed a new treatment which offers pregnant women some important advantages, including a vaginal insert containing prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)— a chemical which can shorten induced labor significantly by softening and relaxing the cervix, leading to a more rapid dilation. PGE2 is administered by doctors who, 12 hours before inducing labor, insert a medicated disk near the cervix of the mother-to-be.
The new treatment was tested in a recent study of 81 women at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution in Baltimore. In that study, researchers discovered that prostaglandin could reduce the needed dose of oxytocin by up to 50 percent for many women, and eliminate the need altogether in others. The chemical also reduced, by over 65 percent, the rate of caesarean sections in women who had had a previous vaginal delivery.
The new treatment is still awaiting governmental approval, but many experts expect it to be on the market in the near future. These experts say that once governmental approval is obtained, they expect PGE2 to become a regular treatment for women who need to undergo induced labor.
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