Background The efficacy of vaginal progesterone for preventing preterm birth and adverse
perinatal outcomes in singleton gestations with a short cervix has been questioned after …

Preterm birth (PTB), which occurs in about 12% of pregnancies worldwide, is the main cause
of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Symptomatic treatment of pregnancies presenting in …

BACKGROUND Progesterone is a key hormonal regulator of the female reproductive
system. It plays a major role to prepare the uterus for implantation and in the establishment …

The implicit paradigm that has governed the study and clinical management of preterm
labour is that term and preterm parturition are the same processes, except for the gestational …

Relaxin has vital physiological roles in pregnant rats, mice, and pigs. Relaxin promotes
growth and softening of the cervix, thus facilitating rapid delivery of live young. Relaxin also …

The cervix serves as a protective barrier from invading microorganisms and as a structural
barrier to delivery of the fetus. Among all biological processes, the phenomenal connective …

Objective: To determine the frequency and clinical significance of sterile and microbial-
associated intra-amniotic inflammation in asymptomatic patients with a sonographic short …

Mechanisms underlying the initiation of parturition remain unclear. Throughout most of
pregnancy, uterine quiescence is maintained by elevated progesterone acting through …

Context: Progesterone promotes uterine relaxation during pregnancy and its withdrawal
induces labor. Progesterone withdrawal in human parturition is mediated in part by changes …

Preterm birth remains the leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity, largely as a
result of a poor understanding of the precise mechanisms controlling labour onset in …