Antepartum Bed Rest for Pregnancy Complications: Efficacy and Safety for Preventing Preterm Birth
- 26 August 2010
- journal article
- review article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Biological Research For Nursing
- Vol. 12 (2), 106-124
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1099800410375978
Abstract
Preterm birth is the major maternal—child health issue across developed nations and the leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity. Of all deaths of infants <1year of age in the United States in 2005, 68.6% occurred in infants born prior to term. Although the preterm birth rate in European countries is 5-7%, the U.S. preterm birth rate is 12.7%, representing an increase of 9% since 2000. Antepartum bed rest/activity restriction (ABR/AR) has been a mainstay of treatment to prevent preterm birth for the past 30 years prescribed for nearly 1 million women in the United States annually, despite a lack of evidence for its effectiveness. In fact, there is increasing evidence that ABR causes several adverse physiologic and psychological side effects among women and their infants. Unfortunately, these findings have had little impact on clinical practice. This integrative review of literature provides a comprehensive analysis of the evidence for the practice of prescribing ABR and its physiologic, behavioral, and experiential side effects. It also presents a model to guide continuing research about the effects of maternal bed rest as well as evidence supporting the use of home care with bed rest, a different, safe, and feasible model of prenatal care for treating women with pregnancy complications used particularly in other countries. Finally, suggestions to improve the health of high-risk pregnant and postpartum women and their infants are provided.Keywords
This publication has 86 references indexed in Scilit:
- Thrombosis during pregnancy and the postpartum periodAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2005
- Hospitalization for Women With Arrested Preterm LaborObstetrics & Gynecology, 2005
- Contemporary management of preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM): A survey of maternal-fetal medicine providersAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2004
- Bed rest and other determinants of bone loss during pregnancyAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2004
- Antepartum Bed Rest: Maternal Weight Change and Infant Birth WeightBiological Research For Nursing, 2004
- Skeletal Adaptations to Alterations in Weight-Bearing ActivitySports Medicine, 2002
- Fathers' Experience of Their Partners' Antepartum Bed RestImage: the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 1997
- Women's Experience of Bed Rest in High‐Risk PregnancyImage: the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 1996
- Infants of depressed mothersInfant Behavior and Development, 1995
- Physical and Psychosocial Effects of Anteparturn Hospital Bedrest: A Review of the LiteratureImage: the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 1991