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Premature Labor Drug Harms Infants

The June 2002 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology finds that a drug given to pregnant women in premature labor can cause damage to their unborn babies.

Since the 1970s doctors have used the drug magnesium sulfate to inhibit uterine contractions in women suffering early labor and is now the most common drug used for this purpose.

This study involved 149 women experiencing early labor. They were randomly given the drug magnesium sulfate or a placebo. Tests for cerebral palsy were performed on the babies immediately after birth and again at 18 months.

Researchers then examined the umbilical cord blood for magnesium sulfate levels in the 165 infants born to the women. 37 of the infants had high magnesium sulfate levels and poor outcomes in the cerebral palsy evaluations.

The data also found that the infant evaluations showed more problems as the dosage of magnesium sulfate given to their mothers increased. The infants whose mothers took the drug were more than three times as likely to have poor outcomes.

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