Infusions of magnesium sulfate given to women in early labor cut the risk that their babies will have cerebral palsy, researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill and elsewhere reported today.
 
Magnesium sulfate, more commonly known as Epsom salt, is already an established treatment for women with preeclampsia, a type of pregnancy-induced high blood pressure that threatens the life of both mother and child. Today physicians at UNC-CH, Wake Forest and 18 other medical centers across the country said it may also be a powerful weapon against cerebral palsy, or brain damage that can profoundly affect a person’s movement and speech.

 
Women in preterm labor who received infusions of magnesium sulfate just before delivery were about half as likely to have babies with moderate to severe cerebral palsy, compared with women who did not receive the infusions.

 
Cerebral palsy occurs in two to three of every 1,000 babies. Preterm infants are particularly prone to the condition. Preemies account for about one third of all cases of cerebral palsy.

 
Just 1.9 percent of babies born to women in the treatment group had moderate to severe cerebral palsy, compared with 3.5 percent of the children born to women who received an inactive solution.

 
The findings were presented today in Dallas at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.