Prevention of Cerebral Palsy in Preterm Labour

Giving magnesium sulphate to women who are at risk of delivering a preterm baby reduces the chance that their baby will develop cerebral palsy by 32%. The NICE quality standard Preterm Labour and Birth recommends that all women who may deliver their baby at less than 30 weeks’ gestational age are offered magnesium sulphate where possible.

The Aim: for every maternity unit to adopt the NICE NG25 guidance and achieve 85% uptake of administration of MgSO4 to eligible mothers in preterm labour in England

The key findings can be found in the full National Neonatal Audit Programme 2020 Annual report on 2019 data here.