This Publication Is Searchable The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy Section 18. Gynecology And Obstetrics Chapter 253. In The Third Stage Of Labor Preterm Labor Onset of labor with effacement and dilation of the cervix before 37 wk gestation.
Preterm labor associated with vaginal bleeding or rupture of the membranes is difficult to stop.
Bed rest helps occasionally, but if dilation and effacement of the cervix begin, labor usually progresses to delivery. Ethyl alcohol and barbiturates should not be used because of their adverse effects on mother and fetus. Tolerance is good. Maintenance with oral terbutaline is not effective. Other problems to which preterm infants are predisposed are discussed in Ch. 260.