Mj. Corwin et al., MULTICENTER RANDOMIZED CLINICAL-TRIAL OF HOME UTERINE ACTIVITY MONITORING - PREGNANCY OUTCOMES FOR ALL WOMEN RANDOMIZED, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 175(5), 1996, pp. 1281-1285
OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to evaluate the impact of home uterine acti
vity monitoring on pregnancy outcomes among women at high risk for pre
term labor and delivery. STUDY DESIGN: Women at high risk for preterm
labor at three centers were randomly assigned to receive high-risk pre
natal care alone (not monitored) or to receive the same care with twic
e-daily home uterine activity monitoring without increased nursing sup
port (monitored). There were 339 women with singleton gestations rando
mized with caregivers blinded to group assignment. The two groups were
medically and demographically similar at entry into the study. RESULT
S: Women in the monitored group had prolonged pregnancy survival (p =
0.02) and were less likely to experience a preterm delivery (relative
risk 0.59; p = 0.04). Infants born to monitored women with singleton g
estations were less likely to be of low birth weight (<2500 gm; relati
ve risk 0.47, p = 0.003), and were less likely to be admitted to a neo
natal intensive care unit (relative risk 0.5, p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: T
hese data show, among women with singleton gestations at high risk for
preterm delivery, that the use of home uterine activity monitoring al
one, without additional intensive nursing care, results in improved pr
egnancy outcomes, including prolonged gestation, decreased risk for pr
eterm delivery, larger-birth-weight infants, and a decreased need for
neonatal intensive care.