Dr. Ahdoot explains why any pregnancy following a premature delivery is thought of as a high-risk pregnancy.
Dr. Ahdoot:
Because the most important risk factor for premature labor and delivery, delivery being more important, is a previous history of preterm delivery, and therefore if there has been a history, there has been a lot of research, we now have different modalities of not only diagnosing, but actually treating.
For example, we do hormone injections, which has been shown most recently to decrease the rate of preterm delivery. Be it not very significant, it’s significant enough that it changes outcome.
Furthermore, we start looking for signs of early delivery and if needed, treat with steroids and other treatment modalities. So basically once you’ve had a preterm delivery, which means you’ve actually proven that there’s been an outcome of early labor, then it puts us on high alert to look for those symptoms and perhaps initiate treatment sooner than we would if there was no history, again, based on risk factors.
About Dr. David Ahdoot, M.D.:
David Ahdoot specializes in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Saint John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California. He attended medical school at the University of California San Diego Medical Center. Later he went on to do his internship and residency at the University of California Irvine Medical Center. With more than 16 years experience, Dr. Ahdoot is a Diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
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