Preventing pre-term deliveries

A piece that appeared in this week's issue of Time Magazine introduced several, rarely discussed ways in which to reduce pre-term infant deliveries. Of course, you have heard them from us.

• According to a CDC spokesperson, "Of all these things we take for granted - prenatal care, nutrition, almost none have proved effective by themselves in preventing preterm delivery. Only one intervention - weekly shots of synthetic progesterone - has been shown to reduce preterm birth in high-risk pregnancies. But no other measure, such as bed rest or home uterine monitoring, has proved consistently effective.
  
  
• Researchers think that a mother's heightened, chronic, inflammatory response during pregnancy can be passed along to the fetus, thus triggering early labor. Daily stressors placed on the mother via diet, disease, lifestyle, environment, and social all weigh heavily on the health of the fetus.