Injections of magnesia (magnesium sulfate) during pregnancy are drug category D. This means that there is evidence of fetal risk, but the magnesium during pregnancy and its potential benefits from the use in the treatment of certain situations, it may be justified, despite the risk.

Newborns may experience signs of toxic effects of magnesia (ie, respiratory and / or neuromuscular depression), if the mother has received intravenous magnesium before delivery. In the first or second day after birth should be prepared equipment for assisted ventilation, as well as calcium for intravenous administration. Some studies have shown that treatment with magnesium during pregnancy is associated with a decrease in cerebral blood flow in preterm infants. However, intravenous administration of magnesium did not reduce Apgar score during the study in children born to women who were treated by pre-eclampsia, while the newborn was observed gipermagneziemiya.

During the monitoring of more than fifty thousand pairs of mothers and infants, one hundred and forty of them during pregnancy were treated with magnesium, were found the relationship between birth defects and magnesium. A study of seven thousand children born to mothers who had been treated for preeclampsia, showed no negative impact of magnesium on the fetus or newborn.

One study compared infants born to women with pregnancy-induced hypertension who were treated with magnesium, with the children of women who did not receive such treatment. Neurological behavior in infants was similar in both groups, except for the fact that children in the first group declined active tone of the extensor muscles of the neck on the second day after birth.

Droppers with magnesium during pregnancy (eg, used to suppress uterine activity) can cause hypocalcemia and stable congenital rickets in infants. There have been isolated cases where women who received intravenous magnesium from nine to fourteen weeks before the birth, there were skeletal anomalies. Light hypocalcemia can occur in infants, which is then treated with intravenous administration of calcium, and then fed milk formula with the addition of calcium or vitamin Vitamins for everyone   D. The only physical abnormalities in these infants during the three-year follow-up after delivery was hypoplasia of the enamel of one child. Gipermagnezemiya the fetus can increase the production of parathyroid hormone and lead to hypocalcemia. Combining vnuriutrobnogo produce magnesia and gentamicin (obtained after birth) can lead to respiratory failure in newborns. The mechanism of this interaction is unknown.

But magnesium is sometimes used as a means of reducing generic activities to slow the uterine contractions or to protect the child's brain during the premature birth Premature birth - Recognize the signals of the body in time . Magnesium is usually administered intravenously, is not slow contractions and the cervix of a pregnant woman does not cease to narrow or open (expand).

How does magnesium

It is believed that the drug effect on the action of calcium in the body, calcium should be present in the uterine muscle, to enable it to shrink.

Magnesia can be used to stop premature labor if:

• The contractions should be postponed for a day or two, to corticosteroids, which are received by the mother, helped fetal lung maturation or to provide time to bring his mother to the hospital, where there is an intensive care unit for newborns, if there is, where she lives, this is not.
• Regular uterine cervix is ​​thinned and it opened less than four centimeters and the amniotic bubble is not bursting.
• The mother is healthy.
• The fetus is alive and not damaged.
• Other medications to reduce labor not slow contractions.
• Treatment with other medicines to reduce labor discontinued due to side effects.
• If premature contractions will likely lead to premature birth and gestational age is less than thirty-two weeks, magnesium can be used to reduce the risk of certain problems with the brain of the newborn, such as cerebral palsy.

How well the magnesia

Studies have shown that magnesium is unlikely to stop premature labor. But if it is prescribed to women with gestational age less than thirty-two weeks, it can reduce the risk of cerebral palsy in children born prematurely.

Side effects

To the usual side effects of this medication include:

• Muscle weakness and lack of energy.
• Blurred vision.
• Incoherent speech.
• Headache.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Tides.
• Nasal congestion.

What should be taken into account

In rare cases during treatment with magnesium toxicity, symptoms (dizziness, muscle weakness, loss of reflexes). Drug called calcium gluconate assigned to solve.

Magnesia:

• It affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) mother. Regular care of pregnant women in the treatment of magnesium includes checking her reflexes. If the mother is getting too much magnesium, her reflexes are slow. Reflexes are usually checked every two to four hours, while the mother receives the drug.
• It affects the central nervous system of the fetus. If the mother receives the drug at high doses, and the child is born before the medication is withdrawn from the mother, the child may have trouble breathing at birth. These problems are quickly solved with the help of drugs.
• Report from the mother's body in the urine. The amount of urine produced by the body, carefully check to make sure that the drug does not accumulate in the bloodstream.

Pregnant women receiving magnesium, are under close supervision. Blood pressure and heart rate are measured every thirty minutes for at least several hours after treatment.

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