Hydration for prevention of premature births.

Introduction: Preterm births are one of the risk factors that increase infant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Primary prevention and treatment tools are known. Theoretically, hydration may reduce uterine contractility by increasing uterine blood flow and decrease the pituitary secretion of ADH and oxytocin. Objective: Find out if hydration in cases of risk of preterm labor is an effective measure. Method: A descriptive study of the available evidence, using as tools for data collection in the literature reviews available in the Cuiden database, Medline, Cochrane and Science. Results: Two studies involving 228 women with risk of preterm labor and intact membranes, compared intravenous hydration with bed rest alone. Both studies concluded that the risk was similar in both groups, except one which showed a lower risk if hydration occurred from week 35. Conclusions: The data are too few to support hydration as a specific treatment in patients presenting a risk for preterm labor. There is no proof of important advantages of hydration compared to the bed rest alone. In woman with risk for preterm labor, intravenous hydration does not seem to have beneficial effects, however, patients with evidence of dehydration may benefit from the intervention.