by EBSCO Medical Review Board

Tests may be done to monitor a woman and baby during preterm labor. These tests are:

  • Blood and urine tests to look for signs of infection
  • Ultrasound images to:
    • Look at the placenta
    • Check the baby’s age
    • Look for birth defects in the baby
    • See the position of the baby
    • Measure the cervix and the amount of amniotic fluid
  • Amniocentesis to remove and test a small amount of amniotic fluid to look for infection or to see if the baby’s lungs are mature

References

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Committee on Practice Bulletins—Obstetrics. Practice Bulletin No. 171: Management of Preterm Labor. Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Oct;128(4):e155-64, reaffirmed 2018.

Premature labor. American Pregnancy Association website. Available at: http://americanpregnancy.org/labor-and-birth/premature-labor. Accessed August 3, 2020.

Preterm labor. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:  https://www.dynamed.com/condition/preterm-labor . Accessed August 3, 2020.

Preterm labor and birth. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists website. Available at: https://www.acog.org/patient-resources/faqs/labor-delivery-and-postpartum-care/preterm-labor-and-birth. Accessed August 3, 2020.

Preterm labor and birth. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development website. Available at: https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/preterm/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed August 3, 2020.

Sosa CG, Althabe F, Belzan JM, Bergel E. Bed rest in singleton pregnancies for preventing preterm birth. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;3:CD003581.

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