Just Say No To Terbutaline

This is something we don’t talk about very often here – pre-term labor.  ”Full term” has been defined as 37 weeks by most care providers, and so pre-term labor can be though of as anything before that.  One of the ways the care providers may try to halt pre-term labor is to give mothers terbutaline, which is a drug typically used to treat asthma or bronchitis.  IT HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE FDA FOR USE IN PRE-TERM LABOR (we’re reminded of misoprostol/cytotec, which is FDA approved for treating ulcers, NOT for inducing labor).  And now a study has been done to show that the use of terbutaline is actually harmful to pregnant mothers.  Read the whole article from Birthologie, here.