Abstract
Antepartum bed-rest treatment is based on assumptions that it is both effective and safe for mother and fetus. However, research indicates, that bed-rest treatment is ineffective for preventing preterm birth and fetal growth restriction, and for increasing gestational age at birth and infant birthweight. Studies of women treated with pregnancy bed-rest identify numerous side effects, including muscle atrophy, bone loss, weight loss, decreased infant birthweight in singleton gestations and gestational age at birth, and psychosocial problems. Studies conducted by aerospace scientists who have used bed rest as a model for the study of weightlessness in space using nonpregnant individuals report similar results. Antepartum bed-rest treatment should be discontinued until evidence of effectiveness is found.
Acknowledgements
Judith A Maloni would like to thank Mathew McManus, Editor, Case Western Reserve University, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, for his editorial comments related to this manuscript.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.