Recent research indicates that the administration of magnesium sulfate in women who are at risk of delivering premature, before 32 weeks gestation, reduces the risk of cerebral palsy by about 50%.
A 10-year study conducted at 18 centers in the United States was published in the August 28, 2008 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, titled “The Beneficial Effects of Antenantal Magnesium Sulfate” (BEAM).
Magnesium sulfate is a chemical compound that is commonly used in obstetrics to prevent severe pre-eclampsia developing into eclampsia (life-threatening convulsions). It is also used to stall the convulsions of eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is characterized by high blood pressure, protein in the urine and edema (swelling).
The BEAM trial studied the connection between cerebral palsy and magnesium sulfate by identifying 2,240 women who had a likely chance of delivery 2 months before their due date. While half of the women received magnesium sulfate intravenously, the other half received a placebo.
Children born to the women who were given magnesium sulfate were found to have a 50% lesser likelihood of delivering a child who developed cerebral palsy when compared to children born to the mothers who were given a placebo.
Researchers called the results a “substantial breakthrough in maternal fetal medicine.”
