Nursing's Contribution to the Literature on Preterm Labor and Birth

Preterm Labor and Birth: What Have We Learned in the Past Two Decades?

“…Patient education has been a major focus of preventive intervention for two decades. Two major areas of patient education have been the encouragement of changes in behaviors, such as the smoking and drug use associated with preterm birth, and teaching women to identify signs of preterm labor so that early intervention might be possible (see Freda, 2003). Identifying early uterine contractions either by the mother's palpation of her abdomen or through home uterine activity monitoring has been a part of preterm birth prevention for most of the past two decades.…”

“…Future directions for nursing practice and research are suggested. JOGNN, 32, 638-649;2003. African Americans have consistently experienced a rate of both preterm and LBW births higher than other racial and ethnic groups.…”

Symptoms Described by African American Women Evaluated for Preterm Labor

“…Freda et al (1991) studied the best methods for providing education to all pregnant women on the signs and symptoms of PTL. The findings from these studies indicated that women needed interaction with a knowledgeable provider to learn and retain material (Freda, 2003; Freda et al). These findings indicated that the majority of African American women (68%) waited at least 4 hours before seeking care, even though all women at the care sites are instructed to call immediately with any symptoms of PTL such as backache, fluid leakage, contractions, and so on.…”

“…Some nursing research has shown that knowledge of symptoms could prevent preterm birth by alerting women to come to the hospital early (Freda, 2003), but a gap exists between what providers teach as warning signs and symptoms of PTL and what women report as abnormal symptoms during pregnancy. For instance, Patterson et al (1992) interviewed 28 women (16 White and 12 African American women) admitted for PTL.…”

Understanding Prematurity

“…Often underrecognized is the important contribution of nurses to the literature on prematurity, its prevention and related care (Freda, 2003). Examples of nursing care that could impact the occurrence and early detection of premature labor include the following (Moore & Freda, 1998):…”