New Test Could Recognize Premature Birth False Alarms

New research suggests that a simple test can help reliably find out whether signs of an imminent premature delivery are likely to result in a false alarm.

Less than half of pregnant women showing these signs actually go on to give birth soon after, and they have to often undergo unnecessary tests.

A test called fetal fibronectin (fFN) that could solve the problem, was found by the UK researchers, which looks for a protein.

fFN is the protein which helps in attaching the fetal sac, in which the fetus develops, to the uterus.

In the previous research, it was shown that when fFN is found to be leaking in the pregnancy, a premature delivery is more likely. The test is cheap and easy to perform, but not commonly used in all the maternity units.

Source: BBC