Preterm Labor

Home Treatment

Symptoms of preterm labor are warning signs. They do not necessarily mean that you will have a preterm birth.

At home, you can avoid activities that can start contractions.

• Avoid using drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine.
• Do not smoke.

If you are fewer than 37 weeks pregnant and your uterus is contracting more than usual, the following steps may stop your contractions:

• Drink 2 or 3 glasses of water or juice. Not having enough liquids can cause contractions.
• Stop what you are doing, empty your bladder, and lie down on your left side for at least 1 hour.
• Try to remember what you were doing when the symptoms started so that you can avoid starting the contractions again later.
• If your contractions get worse during the hour, call your doctor or nurse-midwife, or go to the hospital.

Although stress is not considered a direct cause of preterm labor, do what you can to reduce stress in your life for your own good. Try to do less, ask for help, and eat well.

If you have already been treated for preterm labor

If your contractions stop, you may be sent home from the hospital. Before you are discharged, you should know:

• The symptoms of preterm labor, including lower pelvic ache or backache, pressure, or cramps.
• What to do if preterm labor starts again, including drinking fluids, resting, and calling your doctor if symptoms don't improve in 1 hour.
• When to call your doctor or nurse-midwife. See the When to Call a Doctor section of this topic.

Home treatments that do not work

• Bed rest. Until the recent past, long-term bed rest (expectant management) was commonly used to prevent preterm labor during the last half of pregnancy. However, recent research suggests that strict bed rest for 3 days or more increases your risk of developing a blood clot in the legs or lungs (from 1 in 1,000 to 16 in 1,000).¹² No studies have shown that bed rest is effective in delaying labor.^{13, 11}
• Home fetal monitoring. Research has shown that home monitoring is expensive and has no proven effect on delaying early birth.^{15, 11}

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Author:	Kathe Gallagher, MSW	Last Updated: January 19, 2007
Medical Review:	Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine William Gilbert, MD - Perinatology
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