Prematurity Reduction - New Treatment

17-P Awareness and Utilization

"Delivery of infants prior to 37 completed weeks of gestation is a growing problem not only in the United States as a whole but also in Utah. Approximately one half million babies - or one out of every eight, are born prematurely each year in this country. The rate has risen more than 36% since the early 1980s...

An opportunity to reduce preterm births among women with a history of preterm births is now available through the use of 17 alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17-P).... According to ACOG, women who have had at least one previous preterm birth of a singleton pregnancy due to spontaneous preterm labor or premature rupture of membranes and who are now pregnant with a single fetus are potential candidates for treatment with 17-P. Evidence does not support routine use of progesterone in women with multiple gestations.

...17-P is given by weekly intramuscular injections... Studies indicate that 17-P is most effective if given starting between 16 and 20 weeks gestation and continuing through week 36. Some women identified after 20 weeks gestation may also be candidates."

If this sounds like you, talk to your doctor about this treatment.

(Source: Debby Carapezza, RN, MSN, Nurse Consultant with the Maternal Infant Health Program at the Utah Department of Health, published by the Utah Section Newsletter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Fall, 2009)