New drug approved to prevent premature birth

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first drug effective in preventing premature labor in women who have had at least one previous preterm delivery.

The new medication called Makena (hydroxyprogesterone caproate) is a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone which is given in the form of weekly injections to women carrying a single fetus with no other risk factors.

A premature birth also known as preterm birth refers to a labor which occurs at least three weeks before a baby’s due date.

The rate of preterm birth has increased more than 35 percent in the last 25 years in the US and more than a half million babies — one in every 8 — are born prematurely each year. The cause for such preterm deliveries, however, remains elusive and unknown in many situations.
Preterm babies are at a greater risk of developing a wide variety of health and developmental complications such as lung problems, learning disabilities, and dying during infancy and even later on in childhood.

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