Nonmedically Indicated Early-Term Deliveries

Number 561

ABSTRACT: For certain medical conditions, available data and expert opinion support optimal timing of delivery in the late-preterm or early-term period for improved neonatal and infant outcomes. Howe...

Medically Indicated Late-Preterm and Early-Term Deliveries

Number 560

ABSTRACT: The neonatal risks of late preterm (34 0/7–36 6/7 weeks of gestation) and early-term (37 0/7–38 6/7 weeks of gestation) births are well established. However, there are a number of maternal,...

Lead Screening During Pregnancy and Lactation

Number 533

ABSTRACT: Prenatal lead exposure has known adverse effects on maternal health and infant outcomes across a wide range of maternal blood lead levels. Adverse effects of lead exposure are being identif...

Placenta Accreta

Number 529

ABSTRACT: Placenta accreta is a potentially life-threatening obstetric condition that requires a multidisciplinary approach to management. The incidence of placenta accreta has increased and seems to...

Emergent Therapy for Acute-Onset Severe Hypertension with Preeclampsia and Eclampsia

Number 514

ABSTRACT: Acute-onset, persistent (lasting 15 minutes or more), severe systolic (greater than or equal to 160 mm Hg) or severe diastolic hypertension (greater than or equal to 110 mm Hg) or both in p...

Maternal-Fetal Intervention and Fetal Care Centers

Number 501

ABSTRACT: The past two decades have yielded profound advances in the fields of prenatal diagnosis and fetal intervention. Although fetal interventions are driven by a beneficence-based motivation to ...

Prevention of Early-Onset Group B Streptococcal Disease in Newborns

Number 485

(Replaces No. 279, December 2002)

ABSTRACT: In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidelines for the prevention of perinatal group B streptococcal disease. Although universal screening at 35–37 weeks of ...

Newborn Screening

Number 481

(Replaces No. 393, December 2007)

ABSTRACT: Newborn screening programs are mandatory, state-based public health programs. They provide newborns in the United States with presymptomatic testing and necessary follow-up care for a varie...

Planned Home Birth

Number 476

ABSTRACT: Although the Committee on Obstetric Practice believes that hospitals and birthing centers are the safest setting for birth, it respects the right of a woman to make a medically informed dec...

Antenatal Corticosteroid Therapy for Fetal Maturation

Number 475

(Replaces No. 402, March 2008)

ABSTRACT: A single course of corticosteroids is recommended for pregnant women between 24 weeks and 34 weeks of gestation who are at risk of preterm delivery within 7 days. A single course of antenat...

Magnesium Sulfate Before Anticipated Preterm Birth for Neuroprotection

Number 455

ABSTRACT: Numerous large clinical studies have evaluated the evidence regarding magnesium sulfate, neuroprotection, and preterm births. The Committee on Obstetric Practice and the Society for Materna...

Late-Preterm Infants

Number 404

(Reaffirmed 2011)

ABSTRACT: Late–preterm infants (defined as infants born between 34 0/7 weeks and 36 6/7 weeks of gestation) often are mistakenly believed to be as physiologically and metabolically mature as term inf...

Subclinical Hypothyroidism in Pregnancy

Number 381

(Reaffirmed 2012)

ABSTRACT: Subclinical hypothyroidism is diagnosed in asymptomatic women when the thyroid-stimulating hormone level is elevated and the free thyroxine level is within the reference range. Thyroid horm...

Management of Delivery of a Newborn With Meconium-Stained Amniotic Fluid

Number 379

(Reaffirmed 2010)

ABSTRACT: In accordance with the new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association, all infants with meconium-stained amniotic fluid should no longer routinely...

Umbilical Cord Blood Gas and Acid-Base Analysis

Number 348

(Reaffirmed 2012)

ABSTRACT: Umbilical cord blood gas and acid-base assessment are the most objective determinations of the fetal metabolic condition at the moment of birth. Moderate and severe newborn encephalopathy, ...

Amnioinfusion Does Not Prevent Meconium Aspiration Syndrome

Number 346

(Reaffirmed 2012)

ABSTRACT: Amnioinfusion has been advocated as a technique to reduce the incidence of meconium aspiration and to improve neonatal outcome. However, a large proportion of women with meconium-stained am...

The Apgar Score

Number 333

(Reaffirmed 2010, Replaces No. 174, July 1996)

ABSTRACT: The Apgar score provides a convenient shorthand for reporting the status of the newborn infant and the response to resuscitation. The Apgar score has been used inappropriately to predict sp...

Inappropriate Use of the Terms Fetal Distress and Birth Asphyxia

Number 326

ABSTRACT: The Committee on Obstetric Practice is concerned about the continued use of the term "fetal distress" as an antepartum or intrapartum diagnosis and the term "birth asphyxia" as a neonatal d...

Perinatal Risks Associated With Assisted Reproductive Technology

Number 324

(Reaffirmed 2007)

ABSTRACT: Over the past two decades, the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has increased dramatically worldwide and has made pregnancy possible for many infertile couples. A growing bod...

Circumcision

Number 260

(Reaffirmed 2011)

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists supports the current position of the American Academy of Pediatrics that finds the existing evidence insufficient to recommend routine neonatal...