{"id":2867,"date":"2019-10-31T06:59:25","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T10:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=2867"},"modified":"2021-11-12T16:34:44","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T20:34:44","slug":"how-to-delay-labor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-delay-labor\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Delay Labor: How It’s Done Medically"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you go into labor early, you may need to medically delay labor to delay the risks of premature birth<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How exactly is a delay of labor done? In the hospital, a few things will happen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. You receive tocolytics (eg magnesium sulfate) to suppress contractions and delay birth for 1-2 days.<\/li>
  2. You receive steroid shots, which speeds up fetal development<\/a>.
    • Steroids result in 30% decrease in fetal death.<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
    • You can get transported to a hospital with a higher-level NICU, with more sophisticated equipment to handle very preterm infants.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      What about bedrest? Oster argues there is no evidence that bedrest works <\/strong>at preventing preterm birth. It also entails risk from taking leave from work and medical risks like muscle atrophy and weight loss.
      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      If you go into labor early, you may need to medically delay labor to delay the risks of premature birth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,160],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-2867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-science","tag-expecting-better","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Delay Labor: How It's Done Medically - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you go into labor early, you may need to medically delay labor to decrease the risks of premature birth. 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