Top news in pregnancy: updates on mifepristone, preterm birth prevention and more

For National Women’s Health Week, Healio Editors compiled news on pregnancy.

Highlights include updates on the mifepristone abortion drug legal decisions; cannabis use during early pregnancy; safety concerns with dapivirine vaginal ring use during third trimester; Covis Pharma’s withdraw of the only preterm birth prevention drug from market; increase in hepatitis C diagnosis among pregnant women; and more.

Read these articles, and others, below.

U.S. Supreme Court: Mifepristone abortion pill remains unrestricted during legal challenge

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an unsigned order putting on hold recent lower court rulings that would have restricted access to — or banned entirely — the abortion drug mifepristone. Read more

Surgical approach largest predictor of cost with outpatient hysterectomy in US

In the U.S., surgical approach was the single strongest predictor of total costs for an outpatient hysterectomy for benign indications, according to study results published in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Read more

Cannabis use in early pregnancy associated with adverse outcomes

Cannabis use early in pregnancy was associated with adverse placenta-mediated maternal and neonatal outcomes, according to findings presented at The Pregnancy Meeting. Read more

Many TikTok videos present negative views of IUDs, distrust of health care professionals

Among the top content with the hashtag #IUD on TikTok, more videos were negative about IUDs than positive, and more than one in four discussed distrust of medical professionals, according to data published in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Read more

Dapivirine vaginal ring shows no safety concerns when used in third trimester

SEATTLE — The dapivirine vaginal ring, a microbicidal therapy designed to prevent sexual transmission of HIV, demonstrated no safety concerns when used during the third trimester of pregnancy, according to data from the DELIVER study. Read more

Q&A: Recurrent pregnancy loss can be overcome

Miscarriage is a common result of pregnancy involving the loss of the fetus before 20 weeks’ gestation, according to Mayo Clinic. Read more

FDA requires withdrawal of preterm birth prevention drug approval

The FDA withdrew approval of hydroxyprogesterone caproate injection, the only drug that had been approved to reduce risk for preterm birth in women with a history of spontaneous preterm birth, according to an agency press release. Read more

Induced labor may be cost-effective for patients with unfavorable cervical exams

Compared with expectant management, inducing labor at 39 weeks’ gestation may be cost-effective for nulliparas with unfavorable cervical exams, according to data published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Read more

Hepatitis C diagnosis increasing among pregnant women

Hepatitis C virus among the U.S. obstetric population rose nearly 10-fold over 20 years, which might reflect an increase in screening or prevalence, according to researchers. Read more

US pregnancies shorter than those in England, the Netherlands

Pregnancies in the United States tended to be shorter, and deliveries occurred at different times of the day compared with those in England and the Netherlands, data published in PLOS ONE showed. Read more