Preterm Labour

Abstract

Background: Spontaneous preterm labor that is labor before 37 weeks ofgestation is the main cause of preterm delivery. With increasing gestation the level of Serummagnesium levels decreases. Magnesium inhibits uterine contractions by antagonizing calcium.Hypomagnesaemia also causes hyper excitability of neuromuscular junction bringing in musclecramps and uterine hyperactivity. Objectives: To determine the mean serum magnesium levelsin women presenting with preterm labor. Study Design: Cross Sectional Study. Location andduration of study: Ziauddin University Hospitals, Karachi from 8th December 2015 to 7th June2016. Methodology: Total 40 women of age 18-40 years having singleton pregnancy between28-36 weeks gestation with established preterm labor having cervical dilatation less than 3cm.were included. 5ml blood was collected and analyzed. Outcome in terms of Mean StandardDeviation were noted. Descriptive statistics were applied. Stratification was done using studentt-test and ANOVA where appropriate. The p-value ≤0.05 was considered as significant. Results:The mean age was 26.25±2.38 years. Mean gestational age was 32.77±2.11 weeks. Meancervical dilatation was 1.85±0.39 cm. Mean serum magnesium level was found 1.43±0.25 mg/dl. The results showed that there was significant difference in mean serum magnesium level forgestational age but not significant for age, cervical dilatation, parity and gravida. Conclusion:The results showed that serum magnesium level reduced with increased gestational age.Preterm labor can be predicted by serum magnesium levels.