Atosiban and magnesium sulphate for preterm labour
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How does the use of atosiban tocolysis and magnesium sulphate for fetal neuroprotection affect preterm labour outcomes?
IRAS ID
143790
Contact name
Alex Astor
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Liverpool Womens Hospital NHS Trust
Research summary
Preterm labour (labour before 37 weeks gestation) affects 5-12 % of all births. Babies born preterm, may not survive or they may have later physical health and developmental problems. Short-term postponement of labour can help improve babies outcomes. Current treatments for threatened preterm delivery include pharmacological inhibition of uterine contractions (tocolysis) which enables the mother to be transferred a specialist hospital unit and the giving of steriods to help develop the baby’s lungs and increase survival. There are a number of agents(tocolytics) that can be given to try and stop the uterus contracting, each has a different mechanism of action. In our hospital, if a woman presents with preterm labour after 28 weeks gestation, she is given the uterine contractility suppressant, atosiban. Up to 30 weeks gestation, she is also offered magnesium sulphate (Mg) which has been shown to reduce the risk of neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy in preterm infants i.e. it is neuroprotective. Mg is also considered to have tocolytic properties. However, it’s efficacy for use as a tocolytic is questionable and it is not currently used in the UK as a first-line therapy for stopping uterine contractions in preterm labour.
The purpose of this study is to elucidate whether a combination of therapies (atosiban and Mg)is associated with longer delay to delivery times and better neonatal outcomes than single therapy (atosiban)alone. We will investigate retrospectively, the hospital database (Meditech) and clinical notes of women who presented with preterm labour between 28 and 30 weeks gestation at Liverpool Women’s Hospital over the previous 10 years, receiving either atosiban or atosiban plus Mg. All data will be obtained such that it will be anonymous or pseudo-anonymous to the main researcher. Clinical notes will only be viewed by members of the clinical care team.REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/LO/1945
Date of REC Opinion
24 Dec 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion